cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Age-related changes in lck–Vav signaling pathways in mouse CD4 T cells

Abstract Activation of lck–fyn kinases during T cell receptor signaling leads to Vav phosphorylation, activation of downstream targets including Rac1, and a transient decline in ezrin and moesin phosphorylation. We have shown that age increases Rac1 activity and lowers ezrin and moesin phosphorylation in resting mouse CD4 cells, changes that could be the results of alterations in lck–Vav signaling. Analysis of Vav in CD4 cells from old mice shows increases in the phosphorylation of two key regulatory residues, Tyr160 and Tyr174, suggesting enhancement of Vav GTPase activity. In addition, analysis of lck status also shows age-related increases in phosphorylation of two key residues, Tyr394 and Tyr505, which have opposite effects on lck function. These changes in lck–Vav signals in resting CD4 cells may contribute in turn to age-related increases in Rac1 activity and declines in phosphorylation of cytoskeletal proteins including Ezrin and Moesin.
An investigation of Taiwanese norms for the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C (Mandarin Chinese Translation)

Abstract This study establishes normative data for the Mandarin Chinese Translation of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C–MCT). Fourteen administrators gave the SHSS:C–MCT as well as demographic and meditation questionnaires to 322 participants of Taiwanese nationality. Score distributions, normality, internal consistency, item difficulty, and comparisons with other SHSS:C samples are presented. Scores on the SHSS:C–MCT were compared to both demographic and meditation practice data. The psychometric properties of the SHSS:C–MCT were found to be similar to those of other samples, and the Taiwanese mean score was found to be higher than most other samples, providing support for continued and expanded use of hypnosis in relative treatment applications in Taiwan.
Public‐private partnerships in international trade: a lobbying effort from passive to aggressive in the USA?

Public-private initiatives have been the domain of many governments as they try to shape international trade for their countries. The research presented in this paper indicates that US international businesses are not satisfied with the passive role that has been assumed by the US government and current public-private partnerships. The evidence suggests that US companies desire a more aggressive role for the federal government in the not too distant future. Public-private partnerships will be less informational and play an active part in stimulating international trade throughout the world. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications
Hoechst 33258 Staining for Detecting Mycoplasma Contamination in Cell Cultures: a Method for Reducing Fluorescence Photobleaching

DNA fluorochrome staining with Hoechst 33258 bisbenzimide is commonly used for detection of mycoplasma contamination in cell cultures. Photobleaching of Hoechst 33258 is pronounced under the condit...
Calorimetric studies of freeze-induced dehydration of phospholipids

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to determine the amount of water that freezes in an aqueous suspension of multilamellar dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) liposomes. The studies were performed with dehydrated suspensions (12–20 wt% water) and suspensions containing an excess of water (30–70 wt% water). For suspensions that contained > or=18 wt% water, two ice-formation events were observed during cooling. The first was attributed to heterogeneous nucleation of extraliposomal ice; the second was attributed to homogeneous nucleation of ice within the liposomes. In suspensions with an initial water concentration between 13 and 16 wt%, ice formation occurred only after homogeneous nucleation at temperatures below -40 degrees C. In suspensions containing or=12 wt% water. In suspensions containing or=10 degrees C/min, a portion of water in the suspension remains supercooled because of a decrease in the diffusion rate of water with decreasing temperature. A portion of this supercooled water can be frozen during subsequent freeze-induced dehydration of the liposomes under isothermal conditions at subfreezing storage temperature Ts. During isothermal storage at Ts > or=-40 degrees C, the amount of unfrozen water decreased with decreasing Ts and increasing time of storage. After 30min of storage at Ts=-40 degrees C and subsequent cooling to -100 degrees C, the amount of water associated with the polar headgroups was -50 degrees C, the amount of unfrozen water associated with the polar headgroups of DPPC decreased with decreasing temperature in a manner predicted from the desorption isotherm of DPPC. However, at lower temperatures, the amount of unfrozen water remained constant, in large part, because the unfrozen water underwent a liquid-to-glass transformation at a temperature between -50 degrees and -140 degrees C.
AlGaN/GaN Bidirectional Power Switch

This paper presents a novel approach to achieving BPS functionality using AIGaN/GaN HFETs and for the first time presents experimental data showing the power bidirectional capability of the devices. We present the first detailed study of the bidirectional power switching capability of single and dual gate AIGaN/GaN BPS. One approach to achieve a symmetrical voltage blocking capability in AIGaN/GaN HFET is to place the gate electrode in the middle of the source-drain spacing.
Never-Pregnant African American Adolescent Girls' Perceptions of Adolescent Pregnancy

Despite the decrease in adolescent pregnancy rates, rates among African American girls remain higher than other racial/ethnic adolescent groups. This descriptive qualitative study explored never-pregnant African American adolescent girls' perceptions about adolescent pregnancy. Sixty-four participants participated in individual interviews and focus groups. Individual interviews examined beliefs about adolescent pregnancy and perceptions of life changes resulting from becoming pregnant during adolescence. Focus groups were held to validate findings from the interviews. Participants agreed that becoming pregnant during adolescence would negatively impact their education, family, and peers. Participants anticipated feelings of shame and embarrassment in the event that they became pregnant.
Comparison of Machine Classification Algorithms for Fibromyalgia: Neuroimages Versus Self-Report

Abstract Recent studies have posited that machine learning (ML) techniques accurately classify individuals with and without pain solely based on neuroimaging data. These studies claim that self-report is unreliable, making “objective” neuroimaging classification methods imperative. However, the relative performance of ML on neuroimaging and self-report data have not been compared. This study used commonly reported ML algorithms to measure differences between “objective” neuroimaging data and “subjective” self-report (ie, mood and pain intensity) in their ability to discriminate between individuals with and without chronic pain. Structural magnetic resonance imaging data from 26 individuals (14 individuals with fibromyalgia and 12 healthy controls) were processed to derive volumes from 56 brain regions per person. Self-report data included visual analog scale ratings for pain intensity and mood (ie, anger, anxiety, depression, frustration, and fear). Separate models representing brain volumes, mood ratings, and pain intensity ratings were estimated across several ML algorithms. Classification accuracy of brain volumes ranged from 53 to 76%, whereas mood and pain intensity ratings ranged from 79 to 96% and 83 to 96%, respectively. Overall, models derived from self-report data outperformed neuroimaging models by an average of 22%. Although neuroimaging clearly provides useful insights for understanding neural mechanisms underlying pain processing, self-report is reliable and accurate and continues to be clinically vital. Perspective The present study compares neuroimaging, self-reported mood, and self-reported pain intensity data in their ability to classify individuals with and without fibromyalgia using ML algorithms. Overall, models derived from self-reported mood and pain intensity data outperformed structural neuroimaging models.
The future of fiber-optic computer networks

The author discusses research activities in the area of third-generation (all-optical) fiber-optic networks and where they are heading. Applications, the era of single unrepeated links, the characteristics of fiber paths in networks, forms of addressing, overall network throughput capacity, technologies, protocol layers, and making the communication layers invisible are discussed. >
Thrombolytic Therapy for Thrombosis of Continuous Flow Ventricular Assist Devices

Abstract Background Despite chronic systemic anticoagulation, advanced heart failure patients treated with a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) remain at risk for pump thrombosis. Pump thrombosis may initially be suspected in the setting of clinical and biochemical evidence for intravascular hemolysis, putatively related to shear stress on red blood cells propelled through a partially occluded pump. Limited data exist to guide management in these patients. Methods and Results We present a series of 8 LVAD patients who presented with intravascular hemolysis secondary to pump thrombosis who were treated with intraventricular thrombolytic therapy. In 3 patients, thrombolytic therapy led to complete and lasting resolution of hemolysis, suggesting successful dissolution of pump thrombus. In the remaining 5 patients, thrombolytic therapy ultimately failed to halt or reverse pump thrombosis and hemolysis: 1 patient required emergent pump exchange, 2 patients progressed to cardiogenic shock and died, 1 patient suffered a debilitating stroke after which care was withdrawn, and 1 patient underwent cardiac transplantation. Conclusions In the setting of LVAD thrombosis, thrombolytic therapy is an alternate treatment strategy in a subset of patients. Candidacy for this alternate procedure must carefully weigh the risks of complications, including hemorrhage and thromboembolism.
A project-based approach to programming language evaluation

Most programming language evaluation criteria are based solely on characteristics inherent in a language. Software developers could better use evaluations that help them determine how well-suited a language is for their particular task. This paper proposes such an evaluation method.
Scattering of anti-plane (SH) waves by a semi-elliptical hill: II—deep hill

Abstract The ground motion and wave propagation resulting from the scattering of anti-plane (SH) waves by a deep semi-elliptical hill on an elastic half-space are investigated. The solution is the closed-form one based on the method of wave-function expansion, and the expansion of elliptical sine and cosine over the half-range [− π /2, π /2]. The analysis shows that the interference of ground motion depends on several factors such as frequency of the incident waves, incident angle, and the aspect ratio of elliptical hills. Similar to part I: Shallow Hill, numerical results when semi-elliptical tends to semi-circular are compared with the work done by Lee et al. [17] .
New Meeting Submission and Program Management System Launched

Starting this year, AGU is using a new submission and program management system for meetings.
Mitigation of image contrast loss due to mask-side non-telecentricity in an EUV scanner

Due to the use of reflective optics in extreme-ultraviolet lithography (EUVL), the chief ray angle of incidence at the object (mask) side (CRAO) cannot be zero. If the conventional resolution enhancement technique (RET) of off-axis illumination (OAI) is used, such mask-side non-telecentricity degrades aerial image contrast partly because of asymmetry (w.r.t. the mask) of the two beams in an incident beam pair and partly because of asymmetry (w.r.t. the mask) of the two diffraction orders of either incident beam. The former leads to intensity imbalance of the two incident beams (after leaving the mask) and the latter leads to amplitude and phase imbalance of the two diffraction orders of either incident beam. Solutions proposed previously only alleviate the former and have little help for the latter. In this paper, we introduce n=1 absorber to eliminate the phase imbalance so that the transverse shift between the two aerial images formed by the two incident beams can be minimized and the contrast of the final aerial image (by superposition of the two) can be restored.
Magnetic and vibrational properties of the uniaxial Fe 13 O 8 cluster

We have performed all-electron density-functional-based calculations on the recently synthesized iron oxide ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{13}{\mathrm{O}}_{8}$ cluster. The ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{13}{\mathrm{O}}_{8}$ cluster shows a complicated magnetic structure, with several magnetically stable ferro-, ferri-, and antiferromagnetic states. The most stable state is a ferromagnetic state with a total moment of $32{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$ per cluster. We report a systematic investigation of the electronic and magnetic structure of different magnetic states. For the most stable ferromagnetic state we calculate the magnetic anisotropy barrier and the complete vibrational spectra including IR and Raman intensities from density functional theory.
Mechanism-Based Protein Cross-Linking Probes To Investigate Carrier Protein-Mediated Biosynthesis

Fatty acid, polyketide, and nonribosomal peptide biosynthetic enzymes perform structural modifications upon small molecules that remain tethered to a carrier protein. This manuscript details the design and analysis of cross-linking substrates that are selective for acyl carrier proteins and their cognate condensing enzymes. These inactivators are engineered through a covalent linkage to fatty acid acyl carrier protein via post-translational modification to contain a reactive probe that traps the active site cysteine residue of ketosynthase domains. These proteomic tools are applied to Escherichia coli fatty acid synthase enzymes, where KASI and KASII selectively cross-link ACP-bound epoxide and chloroacrylate moieties. These mechanism-based, protein–protein fusion reagents also demonstrated cross-linking of KASI to type II polyketide ACPs, while nonribosomal peptide carrier proteins showed no reactivity. Similar investigations into protein–protein interactions, proximity effects, and substrate specificiti...
Learning Classifiers from Chains of Multiple Interlinked RDF Data Stores

The emergence of many interlinked, physically distributed, and autonomously maintained RDF stores offers unprecedented opportunities for predictive modeling and knowledge discovery from such data. However existing machine learning approaches are limited in their applicability because it is neither desirable nor feasible to gather all of the data in a centralized location for analysis due to access, memory, bandwidth, computational restrictions, and sometimes privacy and confidentiality constraints. Against this background, we consider the problem of learning predictive models from multiple interlinked RDF stores. Specifically we: (i) introduce statistical query based formulations of several representative algorithms for learning classifiers from RDF data, (ii) introduce a distributed learning framework to learn classifiers from multiple interlinked RDF stores that form a chain, (iii) identify three special cases of RDF data fragmentation and describe effective strategies for learning predictive models in each case, (iv) consider a novel application of a matrix reconstruction technique from the field of Computerized Tomography [1] to approximate the statistics needed by the learning algorithm from projections using count queries, thus dramatically reducing the amount of information transmitted from the remote data sources to the learner, and (v) report results of experiments with a real-world social network data set (Last.fm), which demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.
How data type affects conclusions about individual mobility

Abstract This paper investigates the implications of using different types of panel data to study individual mobility by means of empirical analyses of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics on intercounty migration of white male heads of household in 1975–1980. While event history data are clearly superior to panel data for studying individual mobility, often event history data are unavailable. We examine the consequences of different panel designs (varying number and spacing of waves) and of different timings of the measurements of explanatory variables. The results indicate that: (1) measuring the covariates at the end of an interval can be misleading, especially if these covariates are likely to change during the interval as a consequence of mobility; (2) a study of the mobility of a group of individuals during a single short interval can lead to different conclusions from a study of the mobility of the same group of individuals during a single long interval; and (3) multiwave panel data have clear advantages over data from a single short interval or a single long interval.
Collaboration Between Speech— Language Pathologists and School Counselors

Speech—language pathologists (SLPs) and school counselors are working on adopting alternatives to traditional service delivery models. Collaborative consultation is one approach that may alleviate the pressures resulting from expanding workloads and scope of practice for both professions. To facilitate collaborative efforts, an awareness of the changes in school counselor training and roles is essential. This article describes a developmental school counseling program and providing suggestions for integrating SLP goals and objectives for students with communication disorders into such a program.
VM26 Therapy in Children with Drug-refractory Lymphocytic Leukemia

The information from these trials should aid in the design of future treatment strategies for leukemia patients at high risk of early relapse. Since VM26 in combination chemotherapy effectively destroyed populations of leukemia cells not susceptible to the cytotoxic activity of conventional agents, its most important future role may be in alternate remission induction treatments or perhaps as an added component of primary treatments.
A Qualitative Analysis of Lung Cancer Screening Practices by Primary Care Physicians

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, but no scientific organization currently recommends screening because of limited evidence for its effectiveness. Despite this, physicians often order screening tests such as chest X-rays and computerized tomography scans for their patients. Limited information is available about how physicians decide when to order these tests. To identify factors that affect whether physicians' screen patients for lung cancer, we conducted five 75-min telephone-based focus groups with 28 US primary care physicians and used inductive qualitative research methods to analyze their responses. We identified seven factors that influenced these physicians' decisions about screening patients for lung cancer: (1) their perception of a screening test's effectiveness, (2) their attitude toward recommended screening guidelines, (3) their practice experience, (4) their perception of a patient's risk for lung cancer, (5) reimbursement and payment for screening, (6) their concern about litigation, and (7) whether a patient requested screening. Because these factors may have conflicting effects on physicians' decisions to order screening tests, physicians may struggle in determining when screening for lung cancer is appropriate. We recommend (1) more clinician education, beginning in medical school, about the existing evidence related to lung cancer screening, with emphasis on the benefit of and training in tobacco use prevention and cessation, (2) more patient education about the benefits and limitations of screening, (3) further studies about the effect of patients' requests to be screened on physicians' decisions to order screening tests, and (4) larger, quantitative studies to follow up on our formative data.
Properties of rubredoxin and ferredoxin isolated from spirochetes

1. Rubredoxin was isolated from the facultative anaerobe Spirochaeta aurantia and from the obligate anaerobe Spirochaeta stenostrepta. The spirochetal rubredoxins contained one atom of iron per molecule and no inorganic sulfide. Their molecular weight (approximately 6000), spectral properties, and amino acid composition resembled those of rubredoxins obtained from anaerobic bacteria. A rubredoxin or a rubredoxin-like protein was present in the host-associated Treponema denticola. Rubredoxin was detected in extracts of both anaerobically- and aerobically-grown cells of S. aurantia. 2. An unstable ferredoxin was isolated from cell extracts of anaerobically-grown S. aurantia, but was not detected in aerobically-grown cells. The spectral characteristics and amino acid composition of this protein were similar to those of other bacterial ferredoxins. Four atoms of iron and four acid-labile sulfide residues were present per molecule. The molecular weight of S. aurantia ferredoxin was near 6000. S. aurantia ferredoxin preparations stimulated the formation of acetyl phosphate from pyruvate by diethylaminoethyl cellulose-treated extracts of Clostridium butyricum, whereas purified spirochetal rubredoxin did not.
Skeptical theism and the problem of moral aporia

Skeptical theism seeks to defend theism against the problem of evil by invoking putatively reasonable skepticism concerning human epistemic limitations in order to establish that we have no epistemological basis from which to judge that apparently gratuitous evils are not in fact justified by morally sufficient reasons beyond our ken. This paper contributes to the set of distinctively practical criticisms of skeptical theism by arguing that religious believers who accept skeptical theism and take its practical implications seriously will be forced into a position of paralysis or aporia when faced with a wide set of morally significant situations. It is argued that this consequence speaks strongly against the acceptance of skeptical theism insofar as such moral aporia is inconsistent with religious moral teaching and practice. In addition, a variety of arguments designed to show that accepting skeptical theism does not lead to this consequence are considered, and shown to be deficient.
Variables of Surface Texture and Accuracy of Space Perceptions

Six surface textures possessed differing degrees of irregularity as measured by the standard deviation describing the irregularity, and numbers of redundancies. Each surface was presented at 9 different slants to a different group of 12 Ss who monocularly viewed the stationary surface through a 38° aperture. Regression coefficients measured effects of texture on slant judgments. A replication with 6 Ss to a group and different Es was performed 4 mo. later. Judgmental errors varied with the magnitude of an irregularity, redundancies having lesser effects. Individual data and effects of a blank surface are also evaluated.
Semantic search for matching user requests with profiled enterprises

Semantic search is an important approach that promises significant improvements for customers to identify products of their interest. To perform semantic search, enterprises need to publish semantically enriched descriptions of their offered goods and services; then a customer expresses his/her request, in an easy Google like fashion, by providing a list of desired features. If enterprise offerings and customer requests are based on the same vocabulary (i.e., ontology), they can be semantically matched by using advanced semantic methods. In this paper, we propose an ontology-based method aimed at finding the best matches between a user request and the services offered by different enterprises. We assume that in a given business ecosystem (in the paper, as an example, the tourism sector) a group of SMEs agree on the adoption of a reference ontology, used to build the company profiles on the basis of the offered services. Accordingly, a user request, represented by a set of desired features, is expressed in terms of the reference ontology terminology (i.e., concepts). In this paper, we illustrate SemSim, a method used to collectively search the SME profiles to identify the services that match at best the user request. SemSim is based on the well-known information content approach used to evaluate the semantic similarity between concepts. The experimental results show that our proposal performs better than some of the most representative similarity search methods proposed in the literature.
The potential energy surface of the HO2 molecular system

Abstract The potential energy surface for the non-linear H + O 2 → HO * 2 — OH + O reaction has been calculated using the multi-configuration self-consistent-field configuration interaction (MC SCF Cl) method. The resulting HO 2 surface has a small barrier (⪅0.1 eV) on the incoming channel at an H—O—O angle of ≈ 120°. The outgoing channel (endothermic) does not have an activation barrier. An analytic form for the potential energy surface is presented for use in molecular scattering.
The double bind of caregiving : representation of gendered emotion in American advice literature

Parent advice books written for the traditional, intact biological family represent maternal and paternal emotion quite differently from one another [S. A. Shields and B. A. Koster (1989) “Emotional Stereotyping of Parents in Child-Rearing Manuals,” Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 52, pp. 44–55]. This study examined gender-specific references to emotion in advice books directed to adoptive parents, step-parents, single parents, and married couples in order to determine the relationship between beliefs about women's and men's emotional “natures” and beliefs about caregiving. The gendered representation of caregivers' emotion is remarkably consistent across time, parenting genre, and author characteristics. Books directed to parents portray women as at risk for excessive emotions (both positive and negative) that have negative developmental impact on the child. In contrast, men are largely encouraged to be emotionally expressive, and when they are cautioned about their emotional display, the caution is restricted to negative emotions that are elicited by external emotional hazards: the children, the spouse (or ex-spouse), or the situation. In contrast, marriage manuals portray spouses as mutually responsible for their own and their spouse's emotional well-being. Husbands and wives are encouraged to express unlimited positive emotion and to engage in moderated ventilation of negative emotion. In our discussion of these results we consider the role of emotion representation in promoting a culture of mother blaming.
Design and Applications of A Smooth Mobility Model for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Existing mobility models used in the simulation tools have two major limitations. First, these models invoke unrealistic moving behaviors, such as sudden stop and sharp turn during the simulation. Hence, the study of mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) based on these models could lead to wrong conclusions. Second, because the node speed and direction do not change within each movement, they are insufficient to mimic the minute moving behaviors of mobile users. Therefore, we design a novel smooth mobility model, which can characterize the real-life moving behaviors of mobile users in accordance with the physical law of a smooth motion. Moreover, we apply the smooth model to evaluate the routing performance and network connectivity of MANETs. Compared with the most commonly used mobility model, random waypoint (RWP) model, we find that the routing performance and network connectivity evaluation based on the RWP model is over optimistic. To demonstrate the applications of the smooth model, we present the easy adaptation of the smooth model to group mobility and geographic restrictions.
Forward speed effects in the equations of ship motion

Abstract The explicit speed dependency of the coefficients in the linear equations of ship motion is determined from an energy formulation of the problem as opposed to the usual strip-theory formulation. For a completely symmetrical (longitudinal and lateral) ship, the cross-coupled damping coefficients resulting from the energy approach are shown to satisfy the Timman and Newman symmetry theorem identically. For ships possessing lateral symmetry only, a different form of symmetry among the cross-coupled damping coefficient is found to exist. The results of the energy approach are found to agree quite well with the results of three strip-theory formulations regarding the speed dependency of the coefficients in the heave and pitch equations.
Metabolism of Ecdysteroids During the Embryogenesis of Manduca Sexta

Abstract The combination of ion suppression, reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography (IS-RPHPLC) and radioimmunoassay (RIA) employing two relatively non-specific, complimentary antisera was used to identify and quantify ecdysteroids of divergent polarities during embryogenesis of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. Newly layed eggs (0–1 hr) contained high levels (>30 μg/g) of a maternally derived, polar conjugate of 26-hydroxy-ecdysone (26E) but less than 0.6 and 0.2 μg/g of the polar conjugates of ecdysone (E) and 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), respectively. The only free ecdysteroid detected was 26E (0.4 μg/g). Between 4 and 12 hr after oviposition, marked deconjugation activity occurred as titers of free 26E increased to 14 μg/g while levels of conjugated 26E fell to 19 μg/g. By this time there were only negligible levels of free E (less than 0.1 μg/g). After 12 hr, the deconjugation of the maternal polar 26E-26-phosphate conjugate slowed and levels of free 26E fell as it was metabolized. At 24 h...
Genotoxicity of malachite green and leucomalachite green in female Big Blue B6C3F1 mice.

Abstract Malachite green, a triphenylmethane dye used in aquaculture as an antifungal agent, is rapidly reduced in vivo to leucomalachite green. Previous studies in which female B6C3F1 mice were fed malachite green produced relatively high levels of liver DNA adducts after 28 days, but no significant induction of liver tumors was detected in a 2-year feeding study. Comparable experiments conducted with leucomalachite green resulted in relatively low levels of liver DNA adducts but a dose-responsive induction of liver tumors. In the present study, we fed transgenic female Big Blue B6C3F1 mice with 450 ppm malachite green and 204 and 408 ppm leucomalachite green (the high doses used in the tumor bioassays) and evaluated genotoxicity after 4 and 16 weeks of treatment. Neither malachite green nor leucomalachite green increased the peripheral blood micronucleus frequency or Hprt lymphocyte mutant frequency at either time point; however, the 16-week treatment with 408 ppm leucomalachite green did increase the liver cII mutant frequency. Similar increases in liver cII mutant frequency were not seen in the mice treated for 16 weeks with malachite green or in female Big Blue rats treated with a comparable dose of leucomalachite green for 16 weeks in a previous study [Mutat. Res. 547 (2004) 5]. These results indicate that leucomalachite green is an in vivo mutagen in transgenic female mouse liver and that the mutagenicities of malachite green and leucomalachite green correlate with their tumorigenicities in mice and rats. The lack of increased micronucleus frequencies and lymphocyte Hprt mutants in female mice treated with leucomalachite green suggests that its genotoxicity is targeted to the tissue at risk for tumor induction.
On learning, information, lateral inhibition, and transmitters

Abstract This article continues the derivation of a learning theory with neurophysiological implications. Equations are derived that contain formal analogs of physiological interactions between membrane potentials, spiking frequencies, transmitter production and release, and various trophic effects. These equations reduce to the Hartline-Ratliff equation for lateral inhibition in a special case. The need for inhibition in making possible perfect learning is suggested. A formal connection between contour enhancement due to lateral inhibition, the Ward-Hovland or “reminiscence” phenomenon in learning (i.e., spontaneous improvement of memory), bowing in serial verbal learning, and the information functional is described. A unified explanation of spatiotemporal masking and of the decrease of reaction time with increased learning or increased stimulus energy is given. A formal analog of the inward flow of Na+ and the outward flow of K+ through the membrane in response to excitatory transmitter and of the outward flow of K+ in response to inhibitory transmitter is derived.
A study of the reaction, N+2 + D2O → N2D+ +OD☆

Abstract Product (N 2 D + ) angular and velocity distributions were experimentally determined over a relative energy range of 1–16 eV. At the lowest energy, the reaction was conclusively shown to proceed by an impulsive mode (stripping).
Series estimation of semilinear models

Abstract This paper discusses estimation of the semilinear model E [ y | x , z ] = x ′ β + g ( z ) using series approximations to the unknown function g ( z ) under much weaker conditions than heretofore given in the literature. In particular, we allow for z being multidimensional and to have a discrete distribution, features often present in applications. In addition, the smoothness conditions are quite weak: it will suffice for √ n consistency of β that the modulus of continuity of g ( z ) and E [ x | z ] be higher than one-fourth the dimension of z and that the number of terms be chosen appropriately.
Identity of the putative δ1-opioid receptor as a δ–κ heteromer in the mouse spinal cord

In view of the co-localization of spinal delta- and kappa-opioid receptors, we have investigated the interaction of selective opioid receptor agonists and antagonists in the spinal cord of mice in order to determine if these receptors are organized as heteromers. The finding that norbinaltorphimine (kappa) antagonized [D-Pen(2,5)]enkephalin (delta(1)), but not deltorphin II (delta(2)), strongly suggests that the putative delta(1)-subtype is a delta-kappa heteromer. Studies with selective opioid receptor (ant)agonists support this conclusion.
Synchronization of late-glacial vegetation changes at Crystal Lake, Illinois, USA with the North Atlantic Event Stratigraphy

Late-glacial (17–11 cal ka BP) pollen records from midwestern North America show similar vegetation trends; however, poor dating resolution, wide-interval pollen counts, and variable sedimentation rates have prevented the direct correlation with the North Atlantic Event Stratigraphy as represented in the Greenland ice-core records, thus preventing the understanding of the teleconnections and mechanisms of late-Quaternary events in the Northern Hemisphere. The widespread occurrence of late-glacial vegetation and climates with no modern analogs also hinders late-glacial climate reconstructions. A high-resolution pollen record with a well-controlled age model from Crystal Lake in northeastern Illinois reveals vegetation and climate conditions during the late-glacial and early Holocene intervals. Late-glacial Crystal Lake pollen assemblages, dominated by Picea mariana and Fraxinus nigra with lesser amounts of Abies and Larix, suggest relatively wet climate despite fluctuations between colder and warmer temperatures. Vegetation changes at Crystal Lake are coeval with millennial-scale trends in the NGRIP ice-core record, but major shifts in vegetation at Crystal Lake lag the NGRIP record by 300–400 yr. This lag may be due to the proximity of the Laurentide ice sheet, the ice sheet's inherent slowness in response to rapid climate changes, and its effect on frontal boundary conditions and lake-effect temperatures.
Assembly of Human Neuronal Nicotinic Receptor α5 Subunits with α3, β2, and β4 Subunits

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors formed from combinations of alpha3, beta2, beta4, and alpha5 subunits are found in chicken ciliary ganglion neurons and some human neuroblastoma cell lines. We studied the co-expression of various combinations of cloned human alpha3, beta2, beta4, and alpha5 subunits in Xenopus oocytes. Expression on the surface membrane was found only for combinations of alpha3beta2, alpha3beta4, alpha3beta2alpha5, and alpha3beta4alpha5 subunits but not for other combinations of one, two, or three of these subunits. alpha5 subunits assembled inside the oocyte with beta2 but not with alpha3 subunits or other alpha5 subunits. alpha5 subunits coassembled very efficiently with alpha3beta2 or alpha3beta4 combinations. The presence of alpha5 subunits had very little effect on the binding affinities for epibatidine of receptors containing also alpha3 and beta2 or alpha3 and beta4 subunits. The presence of alpha5 subunits increased the rate of desensitization of both receptors containing also alpha3 and beta2 or alpha3 and beta4 subunits. In the case of receptors containing alpha3 and beta4 subunits, the addition of alpha5 subunits had little effect on the responses to acetylcholine or nicotine. However, in the case of receptors containing alpha3 and beta2 subunits, the addition of alpha5 subunits reduced the EC50 for acetylcholine from 28 to 0.5 microM and the EC50 for nicotine from 6.8 to 1.9 microM, while increasing the efficacy of nicotine from 50% on alpha3beta2 receptors to 100% on alpha3beta2alpha5 receptors. Both alpha3beta2 and alpha3beta2alpha5 receptors expressed in oocytes sedimented at the same 11 S value as native alpha3-containing receptors from the human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y. In the receptors from the neuroblastoma alpha3, beta2, and alpha5 subunits were co-assembled, and 56% of the receptor subtypes containing alpha3 subunits also contained beta2 subunits. The beta2 subunit-containing receptors from SH-SY5Y cells exhibited the high affinity for epibatidine characteristic of receptors formed from alpha3 and beta2 or alpha3, beta2, and alpha5 subunits rather than the low affinity exhibited by receptors formed from alpha3 and beta4 or alpha3, beta4, and alpha5 subunits. Nicotine, like the structurally similar toxin epibatidine, also distinguishes by binding affinity two subtypes of receptors containing alpha3 subunits in SH-SY5Y cells. The affinities of alpha3beta2 receptors expressed in oocytes were similar to the affinities of native alpha3 containing receptors from SH-SY5Y cells for acetylcholine, cytisine, and 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium.
The Microtubule Plus End Tracking Protein Orbit/MAST/CLASP Acts Downstream of the Tyrosine Kinase Abl in Mediating Axon Guidance

Axon guidance requires coordinated remodeling of actin and microtubule polymers. Using a genetic screen, we identified the microtubule-associated protein Orbit/MAST as a partner of the Abelson (Abl) tyrosine kinase. We find identical axon guidance phenotypes in orbit/MAST and Abl mutants at the midline, where the repellent Slit restricts axon crossing. Genetic interaction and epistasis assays indicate that Orbit/MAST mediates the action of Slit and its receptors, acting downstream of Abl. We find that Orbit/MAST protein localizes to Drosophila growth cones. Higher-resolution imaging of the Orbit/MAST ortholog CLASP in Xenopus growth cones suggests that this family of microtubule plus end tracking proteins identifies a subset of microtubules that probe the actin-rich peripheral growth cone domain, where guidance signals exert their initial influence on cytoskeletal organization. These and other data suggest a model where Abl acts as a central signaling node to coordinate actin and microtubule dynamics downstream of guidance receptors.
Recent Developments in Amplidyne Regulator Excitation Systems for Large Generators

Recent improvements in amplidyne regulator excitation systems are discussed in this paper. It is shown that these developments improve performance, and that this type of system can be used with larger machines, as well as with machines with high excitation voltage response requirements.
A New Legal Theory to Test Executive Pay: Contractual Unconscionability

Lucrative pay to corporate managers remains controversial yet continues to evade judicial scrutiny for legitimacy. Although many arrangements likely would pass the most rigorous scrutiny, it seems equally clear that some would not. Some agreements are not the product of arm’s-length bargaining, can rivet managers on short-term stock prices at the destruction of long-term business value, and can misalign manager-shareholder interests. Yet even such objectionable arrangements are immune from serious legal oversight. In theory, they are open to judicial review under corporate law, but shareholders challenging pay contracts face formidable procedural hurdles in derivative litigation and substantive obstacles from corporation law’s business judgment rule and the anemic doctrine of waste. A new legal theory would be useful to check board excesses in the population of clearly objectionable cases. This Article explains why and how traditional contract law’s theory of unconscionability should be used to create a modicum of judicial scrutiny to strike obnoxious pay contracts and preserve legitimate ones. Under this proposal, pay contracts that are the product of managerial domination of the process and formed on terms massively favoring the executive will be stricken. This will follow direct shareholder lawsuits in state courts where the contract is made or performed and applying that state’s contract law. This new legal theory circumvents today’s dead-end route, where pay contracts are always upheld in derivative shareholder lawsuits applying corporate law that sets no meaningful limits on executive pay. This proposal creates new but modest pressure from sister states on Delaware to take greater responsibility for the effects its production of corporate law has nationally. For those outraged by lopsided corporate executive compensation, this Article offers an appealing new legal theory of contractual unconscionability to police them. Those who see no or few problems with contemporary pay arrangements, or who are outraged by federal regulatory schemes like the Dodd-Frank Act, will welcome how this proposal is narrowly tailored using common law to address the most obnoxious cases.
Mass media and the older voter: 1972

All of the media were significant contributors to the information of older voters in the 1972 campaign. There was a strong relationship between media usage, political interest level, and when a person decided on a candidate. Roger Wimmer is a Ph.D candidate in radio‐television at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. The author wishes to thank Drs. Ray Tucker and David Clark for their comments.
Considerations of current methods for drug selection in treating malignant ventricular arrhythmias

The current burgeoning interest in antiarrhythmic drugs derives in large measure from a growing concern with the enormous problem of sudden cardiac death. Until the latter half of the twentieth century, beyond a nodding acknowledgment of its massive prevalence, this syndrome received but scant attention from the medical profession. In the early 1960s a number of insights changed perceptions as well as practice. These related to 4 postulates: (1) sudden cardiac death, in the majority of victims, was due to ventricular tachyarrhythmias either initiated by or culminating rapidly in ventricular fibrillation; (2) the lethal arrhythmia was not the consequence of irreversible pathomorphologic impairment of the contractile apparatus, but rather the expression of an electrophysiologic derangement; (3) the triggering of ventricular fibrillation was the result of an electrical accident both reversible as well as preventable; (4) the potential victim was identifiable either by the presence of certain grades of ventricular ectopic activity or by exposure of repetitive ectopic activity or by exposure of repetitive ventricular arrhythmias by electrophysiologic techniques. The innovations that have led to these insights and their consequences have been numerous and continuous. Among these are direct current defibrillation, cardioversion, coronary care units, bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation, ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring and exercise stress testing for exposing ventricular arrhythmias, electrophysiologic provocative testing and mapping techniques, overdrive programmable pacemakers as well as implantable defibrillators and cardioverters, and surgical, electrical and laser techniques for ablating the nidus or interrupting the pathways of the arrhythmias.
Treatment of Membranous Lupus Nephritis: Where Are We Now?

Approximately 60% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus develop clinically evident kidney disease.[1][1] Although most have proliferative (class II, III, or IV) lupus nephritis, 10 to 15% have pure membranous lupus nephritis (MLN; class V).[2][2] In contrast to class III or IV lupus
Studies of lignin biosynthesis using isotopic carbon. VII. The role of p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid.

L-Phenylalanine-C14 and p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid-3-C14 were administered to wheat, buckwheat, and salvia (Salvia splendens Sello), and after 24 hours the "lignin aldehydes" (p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, vanillin, and syringaldehyde) were isolated following alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation of the plant fraction insoluble in ethanol–benzene and water. Although all species converted phenylalanine readily to lignin, only wheat could form the syringyl and guaiacyl parts of lignin efficiently from p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid. p-Hydroxybenzaldehyde recovered from all species was heavily labelled after feeding both compounds. The L-tyrosine from acid hydrolysis and the p-hydroxybenzaldehyde from nitrobenzene oxidation, isolated from buckwheat activated by feeding p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid-3-C14, had the same molar specific activity, and it is considered probable that most if not all of the p-hydroxybenzaldehyde in all these species was derived from protein tyrosine in the extracted residue. When p-hydroxyphenyllact...
Non-rigid shape and motion recovery: degenerate deformations

This paper studies the problem of 3D non-rigid shape and motion recovery from a monocular video sequence, under the degenerate deformations. The shape of a deformable object is regarded as a linear combination of certain shape bases. When the bases are non-degenerate, i.e. of full rank-3, a closed-form solution exists by enforcing linear constraints on both the camera rotation and the shape bases. In practice, degenerate deformations occur often, i.e. some bases are of rank 1 or 2. For example, cars moving or pedestrians walking independently on a straight road refer to rank-1 deformations of the scene. This paper quantitatively shows that, when the shape is composed of only rank-3 and rank-1 bases, i.e. the 3D points either are static or independently move along straight lines, the linear rotation and basis constraints are sufficient to achieve a unique solution. When the shape bases contain rank-2 ones, imposing only the linear constraints results in an ambiguous solution space. In such cases, we propose an alternating linear approach that imposes the positive semi-definite constraint to determine the desired solution in the solution space. The performance of the approach is evaluated quantitatively on synthetic data and qualitatively on real videos.
Fast audio search using vector space modelling

Many techniques for retrieving arbitrary content from audio have been developed to leverage the important challenge of providing fast access to very large volumes of multimedia data. We present a two-stage method for fast audio search, where a vector-space modelling approach is first used to retrieve a short list of candidate audio segments for a query. The list of candidate segments is then searched using a word-based index for known words and a phone-based index for out-of-vocabulary words. We explore various system configurations and examine trade-offs between speed and accuracy. We evaluate our audio search system according to the NIST 2006 Spoken Term Detection evaluation initiative. We find that we can obtain a 30-times speedup for the search phase of our system with a 10% relative loss in accuracy.