cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Choosing to take cocaine in the human laboratory: effects of cocaine dose, inter-choice interval, and magnitude of alternative reinforcement.

Abstract Cocaine abuse involves a variety of behaviors including the initiation of cocaine-seeking, the self-selected patterning of cocaine administrations, and the cessation of cocaine-taking. To date, most human laboratory models of cocaine self-administration have only assessed the amount of cocaine consumed under a fixed set of conditions. This double-blind, randomized, within-subject, inpatient study evaluated a novel model of human cocaine self-administration that aimed to quantify the reinforcing value of cocaine after cocaine-taking was initiated. Cocaine-dependent volunteers ( n =8) sampled cocaine (12.5, 25 or 50 mg per 70 kg i.v.) or placebo and were subsequently allowed to choose between another injection of the same dose or money over six trials during 12 experimental sessions. The value of the monetary alternative increased with each trial from $1 to 16. Each cocaine dose was assessed under three inter-choice intervals: 15 min, 30 min, and an interval selected by the volunteer. Injection choices increased dose dependently; however, there was little relationship between the value of the alternative reinforcer and the choice to take cocaine. Most volunteers exclusively chose injections when active cocaine was available and money when placebo was available. Inter-choice interval did not affect cocaine choices. These results illustrate the persistence of cocaine self-administration once cocaine-taking has been initiated.
Essential strangeness in nucleon magnetic moments

Abstract Effective quark magnetic moments are extracted from experimental measurements as a function of the strangeness magnetic moment of the nucleon. Assumptions made in even the most general quark model analyses are ruled out by this investigation. Ab initio QCD calculations demand a non-trivial role for strange quarks in the nucleon. The effective moments from QCD calculations are reproduced for a strangeness magnetic moment contribution to the proton of 0.11 μ N , which corresponds to F 2 5 (0) = −0.33 μ N .
Pediatric Management of Nonpervasively "Hyperactive" Children

Sixty-five children viewed by their teachers as hyperactive were evaluated as to whether they would benefit from stimulant medication. All underwent extensive neurodevelopmental and educational testing. Additional information was obtained from school and parent questionnaires and interviews. Children were not placed on medication unless they demonstrated characteristic impulsive, inattentive, and/or overactive behavior in two of three environments (home, school, clinic). Fifty-two children (80%) were not placed on medication. Follow-up was completed in 80 percent, and 93 percent of these children were doing well with nonpharmacologic interventions. Initial comparison of children not placed and placed on medication revealed that age, race, SES, amount of resource help and retention could not distinguish groups. Children placed on medication had difficulties earlier in school (chi 2 = 4.88, p less than 0.05), weren't as delayed academically (chi 2 = 6.30, p less than 0.05) and had less neurodevelopmental disorders (chi 2 = 9.01, p less than 0.01). If a careful psychosocial history does not reveal impulsive, inattentive, and/or hyperactive behavior outside of school, a child should be evaluated to rule out neurodevelopmental and educational problems.
Characterization of human epiplakin: RNAi-mediated epiplakin depletion leads to the disruption of keratin and vimentin IF networks

Epiplakin is a member of the plakin family with multiple copies of the plakin repeat domain (PRD). We studied the subcellular distribution and interactions of human epiplakin by immunostaining, overlay assays and RNAi knockdown. Epiplakin decorated the keratin intermediate filaments (IF) network and partially that of vimentin. In the binding assays, the repeat unit (PRD plus linker) showed strong binding and preferentially associated with assembled IF over keratin monomers. Epiplakin knockdown revealed disruption of IF networks in simple epithelial but not in epidermal cells. In rescue experiments, the repeat unit was necessary to prevent the collapse of IF networks in transient knockdown; however, it could only partially restore the keratin but not the vimentin IF network in stably knocked down HeLa cells. We suggest that epiplakin is a cytolinker involved in maintaining the integrity of IF networks in simple epithelial cells. Furthermore, we observed an increase of epiplakin expression in keratinocytes after the calcium switch, suggesting the involvement of epiplakin in the process of keratinocyte differentiation.
European Political Emigrations: A Lost Subject

Historians generally dislike lost causes. They seek to explain what happened, rather than what might have been, and have consequently neglected the story of political emigrations. Granted, the study of emigres is full of methodological pitfalls for the unwary: biased accounts of past issues, outright forgeries of documentary evidence, personal recriminations that serve to distort political reality, and a pervasive mood of bitterness, acrimony, nostalgia, and endless hope. Yet it is an important story, not only because of its intrinsic merit as a political phenomenon worth studying, but also because of the effect that exiles have had both in their place of refuge and in their homeland when they have been able to return. He who would ignore the emigres might do well to recall that the experience of exile helped fashion the political careers of Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky, as well as of Charles II and Louis XVIII.1 In European history the emergence of political exiles is a relatively recent phenomenon, coinciding with the rise of nation-states out of the religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the era of revolutions which followed. Only with the secular loyalties of citizenship could there be the secular disloyalties of exile, forced or voluntary. The history of political exiles concerns the collective habits of those Europeans who fled persecution or upheaval at home to seek not only personal refuge or religious freedom but also political recovery abroad. It is the political behavior of such sojourners which has not attracted the attention of historians, who have concerned themselves with many related movements of migration: economic shifts inside Europe and across the sea, the flight of persecuted religious or national minorities, literary exiles, and wartime refugee movements.
Neuropeptide Y contributes to innervation-dependent increase in I(Ca, L) via ventricular Y2 receptors.

The developmental increase in L-type Ca current (I(Ca,L)) density in the rat ventricle is reproduced in vitro by culturing neonatal myocytes with sympathetic neurons. We tested whether this effect of sympathetic innervation results from a chronic or sustained action of neurally released neuropeptide Y (NPY). Ventricular myocytes from newborn rats were cultured in serum-free medium with or without sympathetic neurons, NPY, or NPY analogs. Ca currents were measured in single myocytes at room temperature using the perforated patch clamp. In all cell groups (control, innervated, or NPY treated), the current-voltage relation for I(Ca,L) was represented by a bell-shaped curve with maximal value near 0 mV. The current density at 0 mV normalized to that of corresponding mean control values was 1.63 +/- 0.12 and 1.52 +/- 0.16 for innervated and NPY-treated myocytes, respectively. Both groups differed significantly from control (P /= NPY-(13-36) >/= PYY >> [Leu31Pro34]NPY, suggesting that the NPY effect occurs via a Y2-receptor subtype. In confirmation, chronic treatment of innervated cultures with a Y2-selective NPY antagonist prevented the innervation-dependent increase in I(Ca,L). These results indicate that sympathetic innervation contributes to the developmental increase in I(Ca,L) via neurally released NPY acting at Y2 receptors on the ventricular myocytes.
A learning-based hybrid tagging and browsing approach for efficient manual image annotation

In this paper we introduce a learning approach to improve the efficiency of manual image annotation. Although important in practice, manual image annotation has rarely been studied in a quantitative way. We propose formal models to characterize the annotation times for two commonly used manual annotation approaches, i.e., tagging and browsing. The formal models make clear the complementary properties of these two approaches, and inspire a learning-based hybrid annotation algorithm. Our experiments show that the proposed algorithm can achieve up to a 50% reduction in annotation time over baseline methods.
Nuclear Mutation Inhibits Expression of the Chloroplast Gene That Encodes the Large Subunit of Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutant 76–5EN was recovered as a light-sensitive, acetate-requiring strain that failed to complement a chloroplast structural gene mutant of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco; EC 4.1.1.39). Further genetic analysis revealed that the new mutation was inherited in a mendelian pattern, indicating that it resides within the nucleus. The 76–5EN mutant lacks Rubisco holoenzyme but has wild-type levels of whole-chain electron transport activity and chlorophyll. During a 1-min pulse labeling with 35SO42-, little or no Rubisco large-subunit synthesis occurred in the mutant. Nuclear-encoded small subunits were synthesized to a normal level and were subsequently degraded. When analyzed by northern hybridization, the 76–5EN mutant was found to have a decreased level of large-subunit mRNA. Large-subunit mRNA synthesis also appeared to be reduced during a 10-min pulse labeling with [32P]orthophosphate, but the labeled mRNA was stable during a 1-h chase. These results indicate that a nuclear gene mutation specifically disrupts the accumulation of large-subunit mRNA within the chloroplast. A deeper understanding of the nature of the 76–5EN gene may be useful for manipulating the expression of the agronomically important Rubisco enzyme.
Dry deposition and canopy leaching rates in deciduous and coniferous forests of the Georgia Piedmont: an assessment of a regression model

Abstract Simple and multiple linear regression models were used to estimate dry deposition and canopy leaching sources of constituents in throughfall and stemflow for adjacent deciduous and coniferous forests at the Panola Mountain Research Watershed (PMRW), Georgia. The models were evaluated for their comparability and statistical significance, and model fluxes were compared with fluxes derived from field collection and a dry deposition inferential model, i.e. field-inferred fluxes. The multiple regression model used antecedent dry period and event quantity as independent variables. Field-inferred fluxes indicated that dry deposition was a major source of SO 4 2− , N03 and H+ in throughfall, and canopy leaching was the major source of Ca 2+ , Mgt + , K + and Cl − in both deciduous and coniferous forests. The canopy leaching flux predicted by the multiple linear regression model was:(1) within 30% of the field-inferred fluxes for NH 4 + in the deciduous and coniferous forest during the growing season; (2) within 40% of field-inferred fluxes for Ca 2+ , Mgt + , and K + in the deciduous forest during the growing season and 50% in the dormant season; (3) within 67% of field-inferred fluxes for H + in the deciduous forest and Mg 2+ and K + in the coniferous forest. Similarly, dry deposition predicted by multiple linear regression model when compared with the field-inferred flux for the growing season was:(1) the same for Na + in the deciduous forest; (2) 10% more for Ca 2+ in either forest; (3) about 20% less for NH 4 + in the deciduous forest; (4) 70% more for Mg 2+ in the deciduous forest and K + in the coniferous forest; (5) 50% less for NH 4 + in the coniferous forest; (6) 70% SO 4 2− less for SO 4 2− in either forest. The multiple regression model, in general, was best applied to estimate dry deposition and canopy leaching of some constituents for the deciduous forest in the growing season, but it had limited applicability and cannot substitute for field collections for analysis of constituents with significant dry deposition at PMRW.
Digital RF processing techniques for SoC radios (invited)

In this paper, we describe key digital RF processing techniques behind the first single-chip Bluetooth and GSM/EDGE radios realized in 130-nm and 90-nm digital CMOS process technologies, respectively. The local oscillator, transmitter and receiver are architectured from the ground up to be compatible with digital deep-submicron CMOS processes and be readily integrated with a digital baseband and application processors. The conventional RF frequency synthesizer architecture, based on the voltage-controlled oscillator and the phase/frequency detector and charge-pump combination, has been replaced with a digitally-controlled oscillator and a time-to-digital converter, respectively. The transmitter employs a polar architecture with all-digital phase/frequency and amplitude modulation paths. The phase/frequency modulation is based on the direct wideband frequency modulation capability of an all-digital phase-locked loop. The amplitude modulation path directly is built on a digitally-controlled power amplifier. The receiver employs a discrete-time architecture in which the RF signal is directly sampled and processed using analog and digital signal processing techniques. The discrete-time filtering at each signal processing stage is followed by successive decimation, such that great selectivity is achieved right at the mixer level.
A frame buffer system with enhanced functionality

A video-resolution frame buffer system with 32 bits per pixel is described. The system includes, in addition to standard features for limited zoom and pan, an arithmetic unit at the update port which allows local computation of many frequently-used pixel-level functions combining stored pixel values with incoming pixel values. In addition to the standard arithmetic and logical functions there are functions for sum to maximum pixel value and difference to minimum pixel value. Comparisons between incoming and stored data are used to implement conditional writes based on depth values for depth-buffer algorithms. Update and refresh ports are designed for a wide range of flexibility allowing simultaneous use by separate tasks and various functional rearrangements of the 32-bit pixel words. The memory architecture, refresh and update ports are described. Examples of widely divergent modes of operation are provided.
Maximum-Likelihood Classification of Digital Amplitude-Phase Modulated Signals in Flat Fading Non-Gaussian Channels

In this paper, we propose an algorithm for the classification of digital amplitude-phase modulated signals in flat fading channels with non-Gaussian noise. The additive noise is modeled by a Gaussian mixture distribution, a well-known model of man-made and natural noise that appears in most radio channels. The classifier utilizes a variant of the expectation-maximization algorithm to estimate the channel and noise parameters without the aid of training symbols. With these estimates, the signal is classified using a hybrid likelihood ratio test. Results are presented which show that the proposed classifier's performance approaches that of the ideal classifier with perfect knowledge of the channel state and noise distribution.
Closed-loop model reduction method

The problem of specialized model reduction of plants destined for closed-loop operation is given an algebraic form, by means of a transformation based on Chebyshev series expansion. It is then solved through a least-squares approach. The main feature of the method, frequency-dependent design, is used to advantage to tune the model to closed-loop specifications. >
Vacuum Cold Cathode Emitter Electronic Devices Comprised of Diamond or other Carbons

Field emitter arrays (FEAs) need improved novel cold cathode materials for better and more reliable performance. The presence of negative electron affinity (NEA) on hydrogen-terminated diamond surfaces, coupled with practical chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processing of deposited diamond as a thin film on a variety of substrates, has promoted further interest in the use of diamond and diamond-like carbon materials as field emitters. Experimentally, diamond and carbon nanotube emitters have been observed to emit electrons at relatively low electric fields and generate useful current densities. In this work, nanocarbon-derived vacuum devices, viz., the nanodiamond lateral diode and the gated carbon nanotube triode are examined. The material properties, device structure and fabrication process, and the electrical performance of the two configurations are presented. Nanocarbon-derived electron emission devices, specifically, nanodiamond lateral field emission diodes and gated lateral field emission diamond and carbon nanotube triodes are new configurations for robust nanoelectronic devices. These novel micro/nanostructures provide an alternative and efficient means of accomplishing electronics that are impervious to temperature and radiation. For example, nitrogen-incorporated nanocrystalline diamond has been lithographically micropatterned to utilize the material as an electron field emitter. Arrays of laterally arranged "finger-like" nanodiamond emitters constitute the cathode in a versatile diode configuration with small interelectrode separation. A low diode turn-on voltage of 7 V and a high emission current of 90 muA at an anode voltage of 70 V (electric field of ~ 7 V/mum) is reported for the nanodiamond lateral device. Also, a field emission triode amplifier based on aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with low turn-on voltage and small gate leakage current has been developed.
Middle-school students' school lunch consumption does not meet the new Institute of Medicine's National School Lunch Program recommendations.

OBJECTIVE To compare the school lunch consumption of Texas middle-school students with the 2009 Institute of Medicine's (IOM) school meal report recommendations. These new lunch menu patterns increase fruit to one serving and vegetables to two servings, with 50 % wholegrain food. DESIGN Lunch food records were collected from middle-school students from four schools in south-east Texas in the spring of 2008, and entered into the Nutrition Data System for Research software. Average intake was calculated for those consuming meals according to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP; n 5414) and for those consuming lunch from other sources (n 239). The percentage of students selecting each food group was calculated. SETTING Middle schools in south-east Texas. SUBJECTS Middle-school students in south-east Texas. RESULTS Students consuming NSLP meals reported consuming almost 1/2 serving of fruit, 3/4 serving of vegetables, 8 oz of milk and 1/3 serving of whole grains at lunch. Non-NSLP consumers reported almost no intake of fruit, vegetables or milk, and consumed 1/4 serving of whole grains at lunch. Among NSLP consumers, about 40% selected and consumed a fruit serving. About two-thirds of students selected a vegetable, consuming about 67 %. Less than 4% selected a dark green or orange vegetable. CONCLUSIONS Students' lunch intake did not meet the new IOM recommendations. Few students selected dark green or orange vegetables, and only 40 % selected fruit. Whole grains consumption was low. Interventions with all stakeholders will be necessary to improve students' food and beverage selections overall when school meal patterns are revised.
A synthetic study of sourcing strategies

As more evidence indicates that a corporation is very much defined by its purchases and benefited by its close partnership with the suppliers, the sourcing decision becomes increasingly important in the firm’s growth and profit. This paper synthesizes the available sourcing alternatives into four categories, namely multiple sourcing, single sourcing, single/dual hybrid or network sourcing, and global sourcing, and provides a comprehensive review of these purchasing methods based on extensive literature. Besides the discussion of the pros and cons, the paper focuses on the underlying factors that determine the preference and suitability of each sourcing option. In addition, with the note that numerous companies are switching to do business on a global basis, we attempt to use China as an example to examine global sourcing from the standpoints of both buyer and supplier.
Harmonic 3D shape matching

With the advent of the world wide web, the number of available 3D models has increased substantially and the challenge has changed from "How do we generate 3D models?" to "How do we find them?" In this sketch we describe a new 3D model matching and indexing algorithm that uses spherical harmonics to compute discriminating similarity measures without requiring repair of model degeneracies or alignment of orientations. It provides 46-245% better performance than related shape matching methods during precision-recall experiments, and it is fast enough to return query results from a repository of 20,000 models in under half a second.
Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) produces symptoms and activity limitations that impair health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System® (PROMIS®) includes measures of self-reported health and HRQOL for a range of conditions. This study evaluated the HRQOL of individuals with IPF using PROMIS measures and examined associations between HRQOL and key symptoms or supplemental oxygen need. Individuals who reported being told by a doctor that they have IPF completed an online battery of measures at baseline and 7–10 days later (for test–retest reliability). Measures included a brief survey of demographic and health-related questions, the PROMIS-29 profile, the Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (MMRC), PROMIS dyspnea severity short form, A Tool to Assess Quality of life in IPF (ATAQ-IPF) and one cough item from the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT). 220 individuals were included in the final sample. Except for sleep disturbance, all PROMIS domain scores significantly (p 0.7) for all scales, but was lower for sleep disturbance (0.64). People with IPF report substantial deficits in HRQOL across a range of PROMIS domains, and deficits vary by dyspnea and cough severity. These deficits warrant monitoring in clinical practice and consideration when investigating new therapies. Further research is required to further evaluate the psychometric performance of the PROMIS-29 in IPF.
Predicting the Outcome of the Government Formation Process: A Fuzzy Two-Dimensional Public Choice Model

Under the most basic of assumptions of Euclidean preferences, majority rule erupts into cycling in two or more dimensional space, and no alternative remains undefeated. The resulting McKelvey’s Chaos TheoremMcKelvey’s Chaos theorem (McKelvey 1976) forces scholars to reconsider basic assumptions about the rational behavior of political actors and their attempts to form coalitions. The government formation literature remains divided on how to best solve the problem. More recently, proposed models either assume cabinet ministers are virtual dictators over their policy jurisdiction (Laver and Shepsle 1996) or rely on complex game-theoretic arguments, which do not lend themselves to empirical verification (Baron 1991; Diermeier and Merlo 2000). This chapter builds on the fuzzy maximal set model developed in Chap. 4. It presents a fuzzy maximal set multi-dimensional model to predict the outcome of the government formation process. We conclude by comparing the predictions made by the model using CMP against actual governments formed after European Parliamentary elections between 1945–2002.
Lethal mutations flanking the 68C glue gene cluster on chromosome 3 of Drosophila melanogaster

We have conducted a genetic analysis of the region flanking the 68C glue gene cluster in Drosophila melanogaster by isolating lethal and semilethal mutations uncovered by deficiencies which span this region. Three different mutagens were used: ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS), ethyl nitrosourea (ENU) and diepoxybutane (DEB). In the region from 68A3 to 68C11, 64 lethal, semilethal, and visible mutations were recovered. These include alleles of 13 new lethal complementation groups, as well as new alleles of rotated, low xanthine dehydrogenase, lethal(3)517 and lethal(3)B76. Six new visible mutations from within this region were recovered on the basis of their reduced viability; all proved to be semiviable alleles of lethal complementation groups. No significant differences were observed in the distributions of lethals recovered using the three different mutagens. Each lethal was mapped on the basis of complementation with overlapping deficiencies; mutations that mapped within the same interval were tested for complementation, and the relative order of the lethal groups within each interval was determined by recombination. The cytological distribution of genes within the 68A3-68C11 region is not uniform: the region from 68A2,3 to 68B1,3 (seven to ten polytene chromosome bands) contains at least 13 lethal complementation groups and the mutation low xanthine dehydrogenase; the adjoining region from 68B1,3 to 68C5,6 (six to nine bands) includes the 68C glue gene cluster, but no known lethal or visible complementation groups; and the interval from 68C5,6 to 68C10,11 (three to five bands) contains at least three lethal complementation groups and the visible mutation rotated. The developmental stage at which lethality is observed was determined for a representative allele from each lethal complementation group.
Gradual Change In Human Tooth Size In The Late Pleistocene And Post‐Pleistocene

Starting with the onset of the last glaciation approximately 100,000 years ago and continuing to the end of the Late Pleistocene approximately 10,000 years ago, human tooth size began to reduce at a rate of 1% every 2,000 years. Both the mesial-distal and the buccal-lingual dimensions of mandibular and maxillary teeth were undergoing the same rate of reduction. From the beginning of the Post-Pleistocene until the present, the overall rate of dental reduction doubled, becoming approximately 1% per thousand years. Buccal-lingual dimensions are now reducing twice as fast as mesial-distal dimensions, and maxillary teeth are reducing at an even more rapid rate than mandibular teeth. Late Pleistocene rates are comparable in Europe and the Middle East. The Post-Pleistocene rates are also the same for Europe, the Middle East, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. It is suggested that the cookery at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene allowed the earlier changes to occur. The use of pottery within the last 10,000 years further reduced the amount of selection that had previously maintained usable tooth substance. Reduction then occurred as a consequence of the Probable Mutation Effect (Brace, 1963; McKee, 1984).
Metabolizable Energy of the Anatomical Parts and Other Fractions of Western Barley and the Effect of Enzymes and Water Treatment

Abstract INTRODUCTION FRY et al. (1957 a,b) first reported improved chick growth response when barley was water soaked prior to feeding. Jensen et al. (1957) from the same laboratory demonstrated that enzyme supplementation of a ration containing barley also resulted in similar growth improvement. It was subsequently shown by Leong et al. (1958) that the metabolizable energy value of barley was increased by either enzyme supplements or water treatment. Numerous studies since these early reports have confirmed the response obtained with western barley and the increase in metabolizable energy content. Although it appeared that the response was due to an enzymic action, the factors involved were unknown. The substrate for the enzyme was presumed to be from the carbohydrate portion of the diet. The research to date had been more concerned with factors affecting the response to enzymes or water treatment than with the part of the barley affected. A search …
State-of-the-art reconstruction of midface and facial deformities

Oncologic resection involving the midface results in potentially disfiguring and challenging defects for the reconstructive surgeon. As with any defect, restoration of form and function is critical, but is particularly difficult in the midface, which is paramount to a patient's physical appearance and identify, as well as the patient's ability to breath, speak, see, and eat. Here, we present an algorithmic approach for optimizing outcomes in midfacial reconstruction utilizing the state-of-the-art reconstructive techniques. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;113:962-970. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Green’s functions for chordal SLE curves

For a chordal SLE $$_\kappa $$ ( $$\kappa \in (0,8)$$ ) curve in a domain D, the n-point Green’s function valued at distinct points $$z_1,\dots ,z_n\in D$$ is defined to be $$\begin{aligned} G(z_1,\dots ,z_n)=\lim _{r_1,\dots ,r_n\downarrow 0} \prod _{k=1}^n r_k^{d-2} \mathbb {P}[{{\mathrm{dist}}}(\gamma ,z_k)<r_k,1\le k\le n], \end{aligned}$$ where $$d=1+\frac{\kappa }{8}$$ is the Hausdorff dimension of SLE $$_\kappa $$ , provided that the limit converges. In this paper, we will show that such Green’s functions exist for any finite number of points. Along the way we provide the rate of convergence and modulus of continuity for Green’s functions as well. Finally, we give up-to-constant bounds for them.
Provisional Matrix Citrullination Contributes to Enhanced Fibroblast Migration

Activated fibroblasts—characterized by various altered behaviors including invasiveness, altered protein secretion profiles, and resistance to apoptosis—contribute to the development and exacerbation of numerous chronic human inflammatory diseases including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and interstitial lung disease. Citrullination, a post-translational protein modification known to occur extensively in inflammatory environments, alters the provisional extracellular matrix (ECM) and key arginine-containing cell-binding sites therein. We hypothesize that citrullination alters fibroblast interactions with provisional ECM such that adhesion is reduced and related downstream functions such as motility and contraction are also altered. Results have thus far indicated that provisional matrix citrullination does contribute, solely or in part, to several characteristics of activated fibroblasts. Adhesion assays, whereby human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs) were allowed to attach to modified or normal provisional ECM and subsequently challenged with shear forces, suggest that citrullination significantly decreases fibroblast attachment and spreading. Blocking experiments have shown that these effects appear to be mediated, in part, by both RGD and αvβ3 integrin interactions. Despite this decreased adhesion, in vitro random migration and wound healing assays have paradoxically demonstrated the ability of citrullinated provisional ECM to significantly enhance fibroblast migration rates, indicating that adhesion differences alone do not fully explain differences in citrullination-mediated cell motility. This research will ultimately provide insight for understanding a fundamental pathway linking citrullination of provisional ECM proteins with fibroblast activation. It therefore constitutes an important step in the development of novel treatments to both prevent and ameliorate a panoply of human diseases, many of which currently have inadequate or nonexistent therapeutic solutions.
The Contribution of the C-Terminal Tails of Microtubules in Altering the Force Production Specifications of Multiple Kinesin-1

The extent to which beta tubulin isotypes contribute to the function of microtubules and the microtubule-driven transport of molecular motors is poorly understood. The major differences in these isotypes are associated with the structure of their C-terminal tails. Recent studies have revealed a few aspects of the C-terminal tails’ regulatory role on the activities of some of the motor proteins on a single-molecule level. However, little attention is given to the degree to which the function of a team of motor proteins can be altered by the microtubule’s tail. In a set of parallel experiments, we investigated this open question by studying the force production of several kinesin-1 (kinesin) molecular motors along two groups of microtubules: regular ones and those microtubules whose C-terminals are cleaved by subtilisin digestion. The results indicate that the difference between the average of the force production of motors along two types of microtubules is statistically significant. The underlying mechanism of such production is substantially different as well. As compared to untreated microtubules, the magnitude of the binding time of several kinesin-1 is almost three times greater along subtilisin-treated microtubules. Also, the velocity of the group of kinesin molecules shows a higher sensitivity to external loads and reduces significantly under higher loads along subtilisin-treated microtubules. Together, this work shows the capacity of the tails in fine-tuning the force production characteristics of several kinesin molecules.
New mechanisms governing diffusion in silicon for transistor manufacture

There is increasing evidence that nature of chemical bonding at surfaces or Si-SiO/sub 2/ interfaces can affect dopant activation and transient enhanced diffusion (TED) in the underlying silicon bulk during ultrashallow junction formation. There are two separate mechanisms for this influence: surface-bulk coupling by electrostatic repulsion and by intrinsic interstitial annihilation. For both mechanisms, the type of bonding at the surface or interface influences the rate at which interstitial atoms are annihilated there. Changing the effective annihilation probability changes the average concentration of interstitials in the underlying bulk, which in turn influences the degree of dopant activation and TED. The present work employs experiments with the optical technique of photoreflectance to quantify electrostatic coupling, and isotopic labeling experiments to quantity intrinsic interstitial annihilation. The resulting effects are investigated numerically using a simulator whose rate parameters have been developed from literature data using maximum likelihood (ML) estimation together with multivariate statistics to quantify accuracy. The resulting simulator yields excellent fits of SIMS profiles with no freely adjustable activation enemies.
ADORA2b Signaling in Cardioprotection

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death worldwide. A powerful strategy for cardioprotection would be to identify specific molecules or targets that mimic ischemic preconditioning (IP), where short non-lethal episodes of ischemia and reperfusion prior to myocardial infarction result in dramatic reduction of infarct sizes. Since 1960 researchers believed that adenosine has a strong cardio-protective potential. In fact, with the discovery of cardiac IP in 1986 by Murry et al., adenosine was the first identified molecule that was used in studying the underlying mechanism of IP. Today we know, based on genetic studies, that adenosine is crucial for IP mediated cardio-protection and that the adenosine receptors ADORA1, ADORA2a and ADORA2b play an important role. However, the ADORA2b receptor is the only receptor so far which has been found to play a role in human and murine myocardial ischemia. With recent advances using tissue specific mice for the ADORA2b, we were able to uncover cardiomyocytes and endothelia as the responsible cell type for cardiac IP. Using a wide search for ADORA2b downstream targets, our group identified the circadian rhythm protein, Period 2 (PER2), as a novel target for IP mediated cardioprotection. Mechanistic studies on PER2 mediated cardioprotection revealed an important role for PER2 in optimizing cardiac metabolism through activation of oxygen saving pathways. Thus, cardiomyocyte or endothelial expressed ADORA2b or the downstream circadian rhythm protein PER2 are key targets for cardiac IP and could represent novel strategies to treat or prevent MI.
Conclusions: Prospects and Portents

Taiwan’s prosperity and non-marginalization, freedom, and sovereignty are balanced with the island’s ability to deter PRC pressures.
In situ measurements of angular-dependent light scattering by aerosols over the contiguous United States

Abstract. This work provides a synopsis of aerosol phase function ( F11 ) and polarized phase function ( F12 ) measurements made by the Polarized Imaging Nephelometer (PI-Neph) during the Studies of Emissions, Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC 4 RS) and the Deep Convection Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) field campaigns. In order to more easily explore this extensive dataset, an aerosol classification scheme is developed that identifies the different aerosol types measured during the deployments. This scheme makes use of ancillary data that include trace gases, chemical composition, aerodynamic particle size and geographic location, all independent of PI-Neph measurements. The PI-Neph measurements are then grouped according to their ancillary data classifications and the resulting scattering patterns are examined in detail. These results represent the first published airborne measurements of F11 and - F 12 / F 11 for many common aerosol types. We then explore whether PI-Neph light-scattering measurements alone are sufficient to reconstruct the results of this ancillary data classification algorithm. Principal component analysis (PCA) is used to reduce the dimensionality of the multi-angle PI-Neph scattering data and the individual measurements are examined as a function of ancillary data classification. Clear clustering is observed in the PCA score space, corresponding to the ancillary classification results, suggesting that, indeed, a strong link exists between the angular-scattering measurements and the aerosol type or composition. Two techniques are used to quantify the degree of clustering and it is found that in most cases the results of the ancillary data classification can be predicted from PI-Neph measurements alone with better than 85 % recall. This result both emphasizes the validity of the ancillary data classification as well as the PI-Neph's ability to distinguish common aerosol types without additional information.
Operation stability study of AlInAsSb avalanche photodiodes

We report temperature-dependence and temporal stability studies of Al x In 1−x As y Sb 1−y -based avalanche photodiodes (APDs). Multiplication gain and breakdown voltage of Al x In 1−x As y Sb 1−y APDs have shown low gain-temperature coefficients for a wide range of temperature.
The Prospects and Promise of Nexrad: 1990’s and Beyond

The Next Generation Weather Radar Program of the USA, NEXRAD, awarded a contract to UNISYS Corporation in December 1987, to build and deploy operational Doppler weather radars for the NOAA-National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Department of Defense (DOD) Weather Services. The preproduction prototype system is presently undergoing a final phase of operational test and evaluation at the agency operational offices in central Oklahoma. This operational test is scheduled for completion in August 1989.
The Evolution of Double-Entry Bookkeeping

Double-entry bookkeeping (DEB) is used by most large firms even though scholars do not understand why they chose DEB. We address three questions about DEB’s gradual displacement of single-entry bookkeeping (SEB): (1) What is the main benefit of DEB? (2) How did DEB emerge and evolve? and (3) Why did DEB help individual firms and economies survive? We argue that the main benefit of DEB over SEB was that it enabled better measurement of the profits from individual transactions. We argue that the crucial innovation that drove DEB’s evolution was the DEBITS=CREDITS constraint that required an equity account to balance assets and liabilities, which led to continuously updated cumulative profits in a single monetary unit of account. Most importantly, we hypothesize that DEB shifted mental analysis of transactions to a more future-oriented focus that enabled competitive discovery of profit opportunities. We propose several tests of our arguments.
Beauty marks: the Latinx surfaces of loving, becoming, and mourning

There are few conceptual frameworks for tarrying with racialized gendered Latinx surface beyond analyses of representation. One entry point could be the beauty mark, the made-up face, and objects/m...
The Effectiveness of Capillary Barriers to Hydraulically Isolate Salt Contaminated Soils

The use of capillary barriers overlayed with topsoil to hydraulically isolate highly saline soils was investigated in a greenhouse study. Capillary barriers of 8 cm or greater thickness effectively prevented salt from migrating upward into the topsoil, thus allowing vegetation to be established. The water which drained from the capillary barrier had electrical conductivities on the order of one third that of the underlying saline soil, and should be acceptable for stream discharge. The capillary barriers reduced the flux of water and salt to the groundwater to about one third of that of the control. The results of the study show that capillary barriers can be used effectively to contain salt contaminated soils.
Effects of Amplification and Hearing Aid Experience on the Contribution of Specific Frequency Bands to Loudness

Objectives The primary aim of this study is to describe the effect of hearing aid amplification on the contribution of specific frequency bands to overall loudness in adult listeners with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Results for listeners with SNHL were compared with results for listeners with normal hearing (NH) to evaluate whether amplification restores the normal perception of loudness for broadband sound. A secondary aim of this study is to determine whether the loudness perception of new hearing aid users becomes closer to normal over the first few months of hearing aid use. It was hypothesized that amplification would cause the high-frequency bands to contribute most to the perception of loudness and that this effect might decrease as new hearing aid users adapt to amplification. Design In experiment 1, 8 adult listeners with SNHL completed a two-interval forced-choice loudness task in unaided and aided conditions. A control group of 7 listeners with NH completed the task in the unaided condition only. Stimuli were composed of seven summed noise bands whose levels were independently adjusted between presentations. During a trial, two stimuli were presented, and listeners determined the louder one. The correlation between the difference in levels for a given noise band on every trial and the listener's response was calculated. The resulting measure is termed the perceptual weight because it provides an estimate of the relative contribution of a given frequency region to overall loudness. In experiment 2, a separate group of 6 new hearing aid users repeated identical procedures on 2 sessions separated by 12 weeks. Results Results for listeners with SNHL were similar in experiments 1 and 2. In the unaided condition, perceptual weights were greatest for the low-frequency bands. In the aided condition, perceptual weights were greatest for the high-frequency bands. On average, the aided perceptual weights for listeners with SNHL for high-frequency bands were greater than the unaided weights for listeners with NH. In experiment 2, hearing aid experience did not have a significant effect on perceptual weights. Conclusions The high frequencies seem to dominate loudness perception in listeners with SNHL using hearing aids as they do in listeners with NH. However, the results suggest that amplification causes high frequencies to have a larger contribution to overall loudness compared with listeners with NH. The contribution of the high frequencies to loudness did not change after an acclimatization period for the first-time hearing aid users.
Influence of Plant Growth Stage and Temperature on Glyphosate Efficacy in Common Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album)

Abstract Plant growth stage and temperature influence the activity of glyphosate on common lambsquarters. A biotype of common lambsquarters in Dickinson County, KS (DK) was not controlled upon treatment with glyphosate in the field. In a greenhouse dose–response study, the DK biotype expressed 1.5-fold less sensitivity to glyphosate compared to a known susceptible biotype from Riley County, KS (RL). Common lambsquarters plants were treated at different growth stages (5 to 7, 10 to 12, 15 to 17, or 19 to 21 cm tall) with glyphosate at a field rate (840 g ae ha-1), and, regardless of the biotype, plants were more susceptible to glyphosate when they were 5 to 7 cm tall. Common lambsquarters plants were treated with glyphosate (840 g ae ha-1) after growing at different temperatures (25/15, 32.5/22.5, or 40/30 C day/night), and regardless of the biotype, plants were more susceptible to glyphosate when grown at 25/15 C. The results suggest that the DK biotype exhibits reduced sensitivity to glyphosate compared ...
Multiple Cerebral Metastasis from Cancer of the Lung

A 54-year-old white man presented with slurred speech and weakness of his right hand. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed multiple enhancing lesions in the cerebellum and in the left occipital and left parietal regions. A computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan of the chest showed two nodular lesions in the right lower lobe with a 3 cm ipsilateral mediastinal lymph node. A right transbronchial biopsy revealed poorly differentiated carcinoma. His neurologic symptoms improved on dexamethasone (Decadron).
[18F]-FLT dose estimates from fetal rhesus monkeys

1852 Objectives There is considerable interest in obtaining fetal dose estimates during pregnancy due to the greater sensitivity of rapidly developing tissues to damage from radiation exposure. [18F]-fluorothymidine (FLT) is a tracer whose uptake is related to cellular proliferation and as such is currently being used to monitor tumor progression and response to therapy. These studies estimate dose to a human fetus undergoing a PET examination using [18F]-FLT based on pregnant rhesus monkey’s biodistribution data. Methods Three pregnant rhesus macaques (mean gestation: 113 days) were imaged over 2 hours with [18F]-FLT on a GE Discovery LS PET/CT scanner. Animals were oriented perpendicular to the scanner bed in a left lateral decubitus position, enabling dynamic imaging of the fetus and all maternal organs in a single bed position. Anatomical ROI’s identified via CT produced TACs for maternal and fetal organs. Dose estimates were made using OLINDA/EXM and the 6 month pregnant female model. Results Significant FLT accumulation and retention was observed in the liver of the fetus. The dose estimate to the entire fetus for the three monkeys averaged 3.30 x 10-2 mGy/MBq. Conclusions The dose estimates to the fetus are greater using FLT than the previously reported values using FDG in a 6 month pregnant female. This is reasonable given that FLT appears to be irreversibly trapped in the fetal liver, a characteristic not seen in the FDG fetal study.
Wave Network System

The sediment trapping experiments, with durations of six months to more than a year, required a completely different data recording system than the one employed for the one month intensive experiments. It must be capable of reliably logging data samples several times each day without requiring any resident personnel. In 1976, the Nearshore Research Group at SIO had completed the development of a system for monitoring wave climatology at distant locations (Figure 7B-1). This wave network, which is described in its initial form in Seymour and Sessions (1976), is funded jointly by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Boating and Waterways.