cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Membrane Expression and Interactions of Human Transcobalamin II Receptor

Antiserum raised to purified 62-kDa human placental transcobalamin II receptor (TC II-R) has been used to study its synthesis and membrane expression. The antiserum immunoprecipitated a 45-kDa protein from the cell-free translation using human kidney mRNA and recognized a single 124-kDa band on immunoblotting of placental and other human tissue membranes, and quantitation of the blots revealed high levels of TC II-R expression in the human kidney followed by placenta, intestine, and liver. Triton X-100 extraction of placental membranes resulted in the complete (100%) solubilization of the receptor, and immunoblotting of the Triton X-100-soluble fraction revealed a single band of 62 kDa. Lipid extraction of placental membranes with a mixture of chloroform:methanol (2:1) followed by immunoblotting revealed a single band of molecular mass 62 kDa. The molecular mass of the pure Triton X-100-bound receptor increased on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis from 62 to 124 kDa upon its insertion in liposomes prepared using egg phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol. Chemical cross-linking of native membrane- or lipid vesicle-bound TC II-R or detergent-soluble extracts of the membrane with 125I-TC II-cobalamin revealed that both the 124- and 62-kDa forms of the receptor were active in ligand binding. Based on these results we suggest that TC II-R is synthesized as a single polypeptide of 45 kDa, and following its maturation (involving N- and O-glycosylation) the 62-kDa mature receptor is expressed in plasma membranes as a noncovalent dimer of 124 kDa. The dimerization of TC II-R in the plasma membranes is due to its interactions with annular lipids.
Medical Tourism in Singapore: A Structure-Conduct-Performance Analysis

This study presents a structure-conduct-performance analysis of the 17 Singaporean hospitals that are engaged in the medical tourism industry. Using data from hospital Websites, Singapore's Ministry of Health and the Singapore Department of Statistics, it argues that barriers to entry give it the structure of an oligopolistic industry. However, because the industry is dominated by two publicly controlled hospital groups, the conduct and performance of the industry differ from those of the classical oligopoly model. The presence of two types of consumers, Western and Southeast Asian, also distinguishes this industry from the classical model. In the end, Singapore's medical tourism hospitals appear to perform well in serving their international and domestic clients.
Functional analysis and expression of the mono-heme containing cytochrome c subunit of Alternative Complex III in Chloroflexus aurantiacus.

Abstract The filamentous anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus possesses an unusual electron transfer complex called Alternative Complex III instead of the cytochrome bc or bf type complex found in nearly all other known groups of phototrophs. Earlier work has confirmed that Alternative Complex III behaves as a menaquinol:auracyanin oxidoreductase in the photosynthetic electron transfer chain. In this work, we focus on elucidating the contribution of individual subunits to the overall function of Alternative Complex III. The monoheme subunit ActE has been expressed and characterized in Escherichia coli . A partially dissociated Alternative Complex III missing subunit ActE and subunit ActG was obtained by treatment with the chaotropic agent KSCN, and was then reconstituted with the expressed ActE. Enzymatic activity of the partially dissociated Alternative Complex III was greatly reduced and was largely restored in the reconstituted complex. The redox potential of the heme in the recombinant ActE was +385 mV vs. NHE, similar to the highest potential heme in the intact complex. The results strongly suggest that the monoheme subunit, ActE, is the terminal electron carrier for Alternative Complex III.
Morphology of the Spermogonia of the Rust Fungi

1. The morphology of the spermogonia of 136 species in 68 genera was studied in free-hand and microtome sections.2. Presence and absence of bounding structure, shape of the hymenium, position in th...
Advanced Seismic Analyses of the Source Characteristics of the 2006 and 2009 North Korean Nuclear Tests

In 2006 and 2009, North Korea conducted underground nuclear tests at a remote mountainous site in the northeastern part of the country. Both events were small, leading to uncertainties for location, yield estimation, and discrimination based on seismic observations. The objectives of the studies described in this paper have been to more fully exploit data from the International Monitoring System (IMS) network and other unclassified sources (e.g., Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology [IRIS], Japanese National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention [NIED]) to analyze these nuclear tests. We have used differential waveform interferometry (DWIF) to refine relative locations for the tests and extended the methodology using observations from regional stations to estimate relative emplacement depths, which are consistent with explosion source model predictions for broadband regional P ‐wave spectral ratios. Topographic data from the test site were analyzed to constrain relative locations and depths needed for containment of the two tests based on normal testing practice. Network‐averaged teleseismic P ‐wave spectra were inverted using a model‐based approach and provide explosion yield estimates in the range 0.6–1.0 kt for the 2006 test and 2.0–4.8 kt for the 2009 test, depending on assumed emplacement depth. Detailed spectral analysis of broadband regional P observations are most consistent with theoretical explosion models with yields of 0.9 and 4.6 kt for the 2006 and 2009 tests, respectively, with associated source depths of 200 and 550 m. Consistent with previous studies, the surface‐wave M S magnitudes for the 2006 and 2009 tests provide anomalously large M S yield estimates and problematic M S/ m b identification characteristics. Finite‐difference simulations of long‐period surface‐wave signals incorporating tensile prestress, consistent with the regional tectonics, lead to predicted M S values that agree much better with the observed values.
A declarative approach for global network security configuration verification and evaluation

With the increasing number of security devices and rules in the network, the complexity of detecting and tracing network security configuration errors become a very challenging task. This in turn increases the potential of security breaches due to rule conflicts, requirement violations or lack of security hardening. Most of the existing tools are either limited in scope as they do not offer a global analysis of different network devices or hard to comprehensively use because these tools are not declarative. Declarative logic programming can readily express network configurations and security requirements for verification analysis. In this paper, we use Prolog to model the entire network security configurations including topology, routing, firewall and IPSec. This is implemented in a tool called ConfigAnalyzer, which was also evaluated with large network and policy sizes. The tool allows for verifying reachability and security properties in flexible and expressive manner. It also allows for evaluating security configurations in terms of accessibilities credentials and rules.
Summary of the International Conference on Mercury Hazards in Dental Practice

Knowledge of the toxicity of mercury should be a mandatory part of the training of dental students and all other dental personnel who come in contact with mercury.
The role of natural dyes in the UV protection of fabrics made of vegetable fibres

Abstract The safest protection from ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure is offered by textiles including various apparels, accessories such as hats and shade structures such as umbrellas. Their protectiveness depends on fabric composition, (natural, artificial or synthetic fibres), fabric construction (porosity, weight and thickness) and dyeing (natural or synthetic dyes, dye concentration, UV-absorbing properties, etc.). In this study the UV-protection properties were investigated on fabrics made of vegetable fibres (cotton, flax, hemp and ramie), with different construction parameters (drapery and apparel fabrics), dyed with some of the most common natural dyes. The effect of a tannins-based mordant (the galls of Quercus infectoria) on UV-protection capacity was also tested. UV radiation transmittance of fabrics was measured by two methods: one based on the utilisation of a spectrophotometer equipped with an integrating sphere (in vitro test), and the other based on outdoor measurements taken by a spectroradiometer. Transmittance measurements were used to calculate the Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF). Our results revealed that thick and dense (cover factor, CF > 94%) drapery fabrics made of vegetable fibres usually showed good UV-protection levels even if undyed. The use of the tannins-based mordant increased, even without dyeing, the UV-protection level up to the very good and/or excellent protection categories when fabric construction was suitable. Dyeing did not further increase the protection level. Lighter fabrics, usually used for apparel, even showed high UV-protection level after just dyeing, provided that CF was above 94%. Taking into account the high concentrations of dyes used in the present work and the utilisation of mordants containing tannins, slight differences in UV-protection capacity were detected among natural dyes tested and between the two different methods of transmittance measurement. However, UV-protection category defined from outdoor measurements was often higher than that calculated by the in vitro test, indicating an underestimation of the actual protection level of tested fabrics assessed by the latter.
A Possible Origin of the Band at 2540 in the Spectrum of Mercury Vapor

It can be shown that the band at 2540A in the spectrum of mercury vapor can be accounted for on the basis of a molecule with low energy of dissociation, in agreement with the work of Koernicke who used this band to determine the heat of dissociation of ${\mathrm{Hg}}_{2}$. Certain possibilities are suggested for explaining the high value of the heat of dissociation obtained by Mrozowski.
Vaccinia virus E10R protein is associated with the membranes of intracellular mature virions and has a role in morphogenesis.

This study provides the initial biochemical, microscopic, and genetic characterization of the product of the vaccinia virus E10R gene, which belongs to the ERV1/ALR family of eukaryotic proteins, is conserved in all poxviruses and has homologs in other cytoplasmic DNA viruses. DNA encoding a short epitope tag was appended to the C-terminus of the 95-amino-acid open-reading frame without affecting virus reproduction. The E10R protein was synthesized after DNA replication and was associated with purified intracellular mature virions (IMV), from which it could be extracted with a nonionic detergent. Antibody to the tag decorated the surface of IMV, consistent with the anchorage of the E10R protein to the membrane via its hydrophobic N-terminus. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that the E10R protein was associated with crescent membranes, immature virions, IMV, and extracellular particles. To investigate the role of E10R in the virus life cycle, we constructed an inducer-dependent null mutant. In the absence of inducer, the formation of infectious virus was severely inhibited and electron microscopy revealed an assembly block with accumulation of crescent membranes and immature virions. Cysteines 43 and 46, comprising a putative redox motif common to all poxvirus E10R homologs, were essential for complementation of the mutant virus by transfected E10R DNA.
Aggressive Response Strength as a Function of Interference with Goal-Oriented Responses near to and Far from Their Goal

Summary.-The hypothesis was tested that interference with a goal-oriented activity close to the goal leads to stronger aggressive responses than does interference with a goal-oriented activity far from the goal. One group of fourth-grade Ss attempting to score 100 on a pinball machine task was interfered with by a "tilt" light after scoring 90 points (close to the goal), another group was interfered with by the "tilt" light after scoring 20 points (far from the goal), while an uninterfered-with group served as a control. The hypothesis was not supported. The interfered-with Ss became more self punishing, as measured by the Rosenzweig P-F Study, than the control group. This study is designed to answer the question: is the strength of an aggressive response greater whcn ~ncerference with a goal-oriented behavior occurs closer to a goal rather than farther from a goal? Implicit in this question are two assumptions: that goal-oriented behavior gets stronger as the goal is approached; and char rhe stronger the goal-oriented behavior that is interfered with, the greater is the amount of frustration and consequent strength of the aggressive response. These rwo assumptions are more usually called the GoalGradient Hypothesis (Hull, 1932) and the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis (Dollad, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939). The Goal-Gradient Hypothesis has been amply supported. Rats ran faster upon closer approach to food (Hull, 1934), and rats pulled harder when arrested near to a goal rather than far from it (Brown, 1942, 1948). This result held for both approach-to-positive-goal responses and avoidance-of-negative-goal responses. Experimental extinction of goal-oriented responses occurs in the fewest trials when blocking has occurred far from, rather than close to, a goal with animals (Lambert & Solomon, 1952) and with humans (Adelman 8: Rosenbaum, 1954). The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis has also been amply supported. Sears and Sears (1940) found chac the latency or delay in occurrence of the crying response grows longer as a function of the amount of milk consumed by a nursing infant. Es assumed chac the strength of the milk drinking responses lessens with feeding and that crying is an aggressive response.
A Data Center Environmental Advisory System

We present Avatar, a data center environmental advisory system for raised floor data centers. Using limited information such as inlet and reference temperatures for IT equipment and basic floor plan geometry, Avatar produces recommendation to adjust the operation of computer room air conditioners (CRACs) and the configuration of vent tiles in a data center so as to reducing excess provisioning of cooling and to remove hot spots. Avatar reduces operating expenses by cooling the same load with less energy. Avatar reduces capital expenses by recovering stranded cooling capacity that would otherwise have to be replaced.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
On using the hypervolume indicator to compare Pareto fronts: Applications to multi-criteria optimal experimental design

Abstract The Pareto approach to optimal experimental design simultaneously considers multiple objectives by constructing a set of Pareto optimal designs while explicitly considering trade-offs between opposing criteria. Various algorithms have been proposed to populate Pareto fronts of designs, and evaluating and comparing these fronts–and by extension the algorithms that produce them–is crucial. In this paper, we first propose a framework for comparing algorithm-generated Pareto fronts based on a refined hypervolume indicator. We then theoretically address how the choice of the reference point affects comparisons of Pareto fronts, and demonstrate that our approach is Pareto compliant. Based on our theoretical investigation, we provide rules for choosing reference points when two-dimensional Pareto fronts are compared. Because theoretical results for three-dimensional fronts are difficult to obtain, we propose an empirical rule for the three-dimensional case by making an analogy to the rules for two dimensions. We also consider the use of our procedure in evaluating the progress of a front-constructing algorithm, and illustrate our work with two examples from the literature.
Simulations of 2D Maxwell-Bloch equations

Rare-earth-doped crystals can be modelled as inhomogeneously broadened two-level atoms. Beam propagation in the crystals can be described by the Maxwell-Bloch equations. We numerically solve Maxwell's equations by using the FFT-finite difference beam propagation method and the Bloch equations by using the finite difference method. Numerical simulation results are given for an off-axis 3-pulse photon echo.
Visualizing the Holocaust: Documents, Aesthetics, Memory

Visualizing the Holocaust: Documents, Aesthetics, Memory David Bathrick, Brad Prager, and Michael D. Richardson (eds) Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2008 336 pp, US $75 (hbk) Comprising twelve well-w...
Controlling Non-additional Credits from Nutrient Management in Water Quality Trading Programs Through Eligibility Baseline Stringency

A concern for programs that offer payment for environmental services is that those services be additional. Non-additional services are those that would have been provided without the payment. One source of non-additionality is farmer misrepresentation of their pre-program management. Farm management practices are often difficult to observe, particularly those that do not involve structural changes, such as nutrient management. If practices are difficult to observe, management oversight lax, and enforcement weak, the farmer has an incentive to provide biased information that increases the likelihood that he will receive a more favorable baseline for calculating services created, and a larger payment. This is a moral hazard problem. The presence of non-additional credits in a water quality trading program can result in the degradation of water quality. Point source discharges above permitted levels are replaced by equivalent reductions from unregulated nonpoint sources. If the abatement that point sources purchase from nonpoint sources is non-additional, discharges will be higher than if the abatement was truly additional. Preventing non-additional credits from entering a water quality trading market is one of the goals of program design. In this paper we assess how program eligibility baseline choice affects the incentive to misrepresent baseline nutrient management practices.
Rethinking relationships in governing: some Weberian distinctions

Uses the distinctions Max Weber draws between means and ends of economics and politics in Economy and Society to explore why the discussion of ends may be neglected in current conversations on privatization and reinvention. Includes a discussion of possible relationships between public and private based on Weberian concepts of the life spheres of politics and economics and the contrasting types of status and purposive contracts. Suggests that to increase emphasis on ends, as well as means, public dialogue should focus on giving an account as well as on holding organizations to account. For public management to focus on giving an account, more attention needs to be given to appreciating a public law framework, understanding the relationships in different types of contract, and creating conditions favourable to communicative rationality.
Nanostructured Film Electrodes for Efficient Li-ion Intercalations

Boosted by the increasing demand for clean and portable energy resources, there have been tremendous efforts being made in the energy harvesting and energy storage materials and devices, such as solar cells, fuel cells, Li-ion batteries etc. Since its first commercial debut in 1991, Li-ion battery has achieved significant progress in energy storage performances. The development of nanostructured electrode material is regarded as one of the key potentials for the further advancement in Li-ion batteries. This paper highlights our recent studies in the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured electrode materials for high-performance Li-ion batteries. The main focuses are on the binder-less and additive-free vanadium oxide films and lithium iron phosphate - carbon nanocomposite films via sol-gel processing. Enhanced Li+ intercalation capacities, improved rate capabilities and better cyclic stability were achieved by architecting micro- or nanostructure, controlling materials crystallinity and introducing desired defects on surface and/or in bulk.
In vitro and in vivo effects of antibody to rat angiotensin converting enzyme.

Abstract Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) has been purified from rat lung and an antibody produced in sheep. The antibody blocks ACE activity both in lung extracts and in rat serum and, to a lesser extent, in human serum. In immunoelectrophoresis of human serum or lung ACE, the antibody produces a single precipitin band in the β-globulin region. By immunofluorescence, the antibody stains vascular intimal surfaces and interstitial capillaries in the lung and glomerular capillary loops of the kidney. When IgG rich in anti-ACE activity and IgG obtained from normal sheep are radiolabeled and injected into rats, preferential localization of the former is found in the lung, irrespective of whether the IgG preparations are injected into a foot vein or into the aortic arch. The fixation of antibody to ACE within the lung is associated with a significant increase in vascular permeability, which requires complement, suggesting that anti-ACE inflicts vascular injury in the lung in a complement-dependent manner. Higher doses of anti-ACE cause death within an hour of injection. This phenomenon is also complement dependent. These findings indicate that antibody to ACE causes pulmonary injury that is probably a result of complement fixing complexes forming on the surfaces of pulmonary endothelial cells.
130 Transcription blockage by single-strand breaks in various sequences and the general model for transcription blockage by R-loop formation

Transcription blockage can strongly affect gene expression and trigger other important biological phenomena like transcription-coupled repair (Hanawalt & Spivak, 2008). Thus, it is of interest to study the various factors that can cause transcription blockage and to elucidate mechanisms of their action. We studied T7 RNA polymerase (T7 RNAP) transcription blockage caused by single-stranded breaks localize either in the template or the nontemplate DNA strand (Belotserkovskii et al., 2013; Neil, Belotserkovskii, & Hanawalt, 2012). Partial T7 RNAP blockage was observed in both cases, but the patterns of blockage signals differed dramatically for these two types of lesions. A break in the template strand produces a sharp predominant blockage signal corresponding to the position of the break, as expected for an interruption in the DNA strand that is continuously tracked by RNAP during transcription. In contrast, a break in the nontemplate strand produces an irregular ladder of weak blockage signals that begins...
Further studies of the isotherms of LaNi5−xSnx–H for x=0–0.5

Abstract Complete hydrogen isotherms have been measured using highly stoichiometric, activated LaNi5 over a wide temperature range, 373–228 K. Van't Hoff plots for hydride formation and decomposition have been constructed using the isotherms in the low temperature range from 228 to 298 K. The following thermodynamic results are obtained: |ΔHplat|=15.4 kJ/mol 1 2 H 2 and |ΔSplat|=54.4 J/K mol 1 2 H 2 . These should be regarded as reliable in view of the nearly stoichiometric LaNi5 employed and because utilizing data over a wide, low temperature range avoids problems introduced by degradation of the alloy which can be a factor at higher temperatures due to the inherent instability of the H-containing alloy. It has been observed previously in the LaNi5–H system that the absorption plateau measured with virgin alloys, i.e., before activation, is significantly higher than the subsequent values. This phenomenon was investigated in this research using the LaNi5−xSnx alloys, with x=0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.25, 0.32, 0.40 and 0.50. Isotherms for the virgin and activated alloys were measured at 373 K. The difference between the initial plateau pressures for hydride formation and values for activated material decrease with increase of x. An important result is that the initially high plateau pressure for hydride formation for alloys is related to hysteresis because the difference between the plateau pressures before and after activation almost vanishes at a Sn content of x=0.32, where hysteresis itself nearly vanishes.
Optimal offloading control for a mobile device based on a realistic battery model and semi-markov decision process

Due to the limited battery capacity in mobile devices, the concept of mobile cloud computing (MCC) is proposed where some applications are offloaded from the local device to the cloud for higher energy efficiency. The portion of applications or tasks to be offloaded for remote processing should be judiciously determined. In this paper, the problem of optimal task dispatch, transmission, and execution in the MCC system is considered. Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) is applied to the local mobile processor, whereas the RF transmitter of the mobile device can choose from multiple modulation schemes and bit rates. The power consumptions of the mobile components that cannot be directly controlled, e.g., the touch screen, GPU, audio codec, and I/O ports, are also accounted for through capturing their correlation with the mobile processor and RF transmitter. Finally, a realistic and accurate battery model is adopted in this work in order to estimate the battery energy loss rate in a more accurate way. This paper presents a semi-Markov decision process (SMDP)-based optimization framework, with the actions of different DVFS levels and modulation schemes/transimission bit rates and the objective of minimizing both the energy drawn from the battery and the average latency in request servicing. This paper derives the optimal solution, including the optimal DVFS policy, offloading rate, and transmission scheme, using linear programming combined with a heuristic search. Experiments are conducted on Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Development Platform MSM8660 to find the correlations among the power consumptions of the CPU, RF components, and other components. Simulation results show that the proposed optimal solution consistently outperforms some baseline algorithms.
Regionalizing spain's continuous and discontinuous settlement

Abstract The expected increase of the world's population will be accompanied by a growth of the rural part. Some of the latter will be reflected in expansion of the inhabited area into the uninhabited. To provide knowledge for efficiency of this expansion a classification of the areally continuous and discontinuous settlement of Spain is delineated. The Continuous Settlement Region is in the north, east of a Leon-Bilbao line, north of the latitude of Toledo, and split in two by a NE-SW line through Teruel. The rest is the Discontinuous Settlement Region comprised of four occurrences of Inner Fringe Zone near the country's corners, two of the Middle Fringe Zone, and three of Outer Fringe Zone. Though new rural settling began in Spain in 1907 the principal effort has been during the past two decades under the National Colonization Institute whose work has been concentrated in the Inner Fringe Zone. It is there that continuing study is needed to provide guides for new rural settling elsewhere in the world.
Reexamination of hemocytes in brine shrimp (Crustacea, branchiopoda).

In 1941, a single type of hemocyte was described in the blood of the brine shrimp Artemia salina using light microscopy. This condition is unusual because most crustaceans examined using morphological, cytochemical, and functional methods have at least two types of hemoctyes. Upon examining A. franciscana, we found a single type of disk-shaped hemocyte, with a centrally located nucleus and about 15 large (6 microm diameter) granules. The granules stain for the presence of acid phosphatase and react with L-DOPA suggesting, respectively, that they are involved in degrading ingested material and possess the phenoloxidase system. Hemocytes require calcium for adhesion, bind together to mend small wounds in the body wall, and are able to phagocytose bacteria. Blood cells of A. franciscana are morphologically and functionally similar to those of the primitive chelicerate, Limulus polyphemus, and both forms have apparently given rise to more advanced taxa with multiple types of hemocytes. The major difference between the two species is the presence of the phenoloxidase system in the Crustacea and its apparent absence in the chelicerates.
Age similarities in the inertial properties of attention.

Adult age differences in the mode of allocation of visual attention were investigated, using a visual search task with a circular display containing one target letter and seven distractor letters. In two experiments, a total of 56 younger adults (M=20 years) and 56 older adults (M=66 years) searched for a target appearing with equal probability at one of two cued locations. The first cue appeared 115 msec before display onset, and the second cue appeared with display onset; distance between the two cued locations was varied. Target identification performance indicated that attention was inertial, in that reaction time for second-cued targets was related either to the area of the portion of the visual field containing possible target locations or to the mean path length of a serial self-tenminating search. There were no age-related decrements in the allocation of visual attention.
Guaranteed return regulation: a case study of regulation of water in California

Price cap regulation (PCR) arose out of dissatisfaction with rate-of-return regulation (ROR). In energy and water there has been a move away from PCR into an extended form of ROR, referred to as guaranteed return regulation (GRR). It is employed to implement policies that legislators are unwilling to apply by transparent methods, namely taxation, but willing to apply opaquely through the regulatory process. GRR does not promote efficiency and, as the California experience shows, the guarantees it provides are limited. Its success in California has been mixed and it should be considered to be a work in progress and open to improvements, some of which are outlined.
A Digital Liquid State Machine With Biologically Inspired Learning and Its Application to Speech Recognition

This paper presents a bioinspired digital liquid-state machine (LSM) for low-power very-large-scale-integration (VLSI)-based machine learning applications. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work that employs a bioinspired spike-based learning algorithm for the LSM. With the proposed online learning, the LSM extracts information from input patterns on the fly without needing intermediate data storage as required in offline learning methods such as ridge regression. The proposed learning rule is local such that each synaptic weight update is based only upon the firing activities of the corresponding presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons without incurring global communications across the neural network. Compared with the backpropagation-based learning, the locality of computation in the proposed approach lends itself to efficient parallel VLSI implementation. We use subsets of the TI46 speech corpus to benchmark the bioinspired digital LSM. To reduce the complexity of the spiking neural network model without performance degradation for speech recognition, we study the impacts of synaptic models on the fading memory of the reservoir and hence the network performance. Moreover, we examine the tradeoffs between synaptic weight resolution, reservoir size, and recognition performance and present techniques to further reduce the overhead of hardware implementation. Our simulation results show that in terms of isolated word recognition evaluated using the TI46 speech corpus, the proposed digital LSM rivals the state-of-the-art hidden Markov-model-based recognizer Sphinx-4 and outperforms all other reported recognizers including the ones that are based upon the LSM or neural networks.
Guanosine distribution and oxidation resistance in eight eukaryotic genomes.

Reactive oxygen species that attack DNA are continuously generated in living cells. Both the guanosine (G) mole fraction and its distribution should affect the stability of genomes and their parts ...
Ultrafast Infrared Mechanistic Studies of the Interaction of 1-Hexyne with Group 6 Hexacarbonyl Complexes

The ultrafast solvation and rearrangement dynamics following the photolysis of M(CO)6 (M = Cr, Mo, W) in terminal alkyne solutions have been investigated. Upon photoinitiated loss of a ligand from the parent metal hexacarbonyl, coordination to an alkyne solvent molecule is followed by rearrangement to a complex that is bound to the terminal alkyne site in a π-bonded fashion. This rearrangement occurs on a time scale that is anticorrelated with the metal−ligand binding energy. A dissociative rearrangement is ruled out for this process in favor of an associative or interchange mechanism. Previous theoretical and experimental studies are examined, and we conclude that the ultimate rearrangement to a vinylidene species is energetically inaccessible at ambient temperatures on the femtosecond to millisecond time scale.
Phytic acid plus supplemental calcium, but not phytic acid alone, decreases fluoride bioavailability in the rat

Abstract Results of in vitro studies have suggested that fluoride becomes insoluble when some soy-based infant formulas are diluted with fluoridated water because of the presence of phytate, added calcium, or a combination of these factors. The present study was designed to test this hypothesis in vivo. Male albino rats (25 days old) were fed a purified diet containing phytic acid (0 or 6.06 mmol/kg), calcium (125 or 250 mmol/kg) and fluoride (526 μmol/kg) for 4 weeks in a factorial design of treatments. Phytic acid was added to the diet by chemically reacting a phytic acid concentrate with casein prior to diet preparation to mimic a soy protein. Food intake, weight gain, and femur phosphorus were unaffected by dietary treatments. Both phytic acid and supplemental calcium alone had little or no effect on fluoride uptake into either bone or teeth. The combination of phytic acid plus supplemental calcium, however, significantly increased percent of fluoride intake found in the feces, which was reflected in a significant decrease (20%) in fluoride concentration of femur, second molar teeth, and vertebrate bone. These results provide evidence that insoluble complex formation produced by a calcium and phytate interaction can explain reduced fluoride solubility in some soy-based infant formulas as well as decreased fluoride absorbability in vivo.
Phase partitioning and bioaccessibility of Pb in suspended dust from unsurfaced roads in Missouri—A potential tool for determining mitigation response

Airborne particulate material collected from seventeen rural unsurfaced roads in Missouri's agricultural and resource mining areas were characterized using the BCR sequential extraction procedure and simulated in vitro body fluids to determine the phase partitioning and bioaccessibility of Pb associated with roadway dusts. Results show that dusts produced from driving over unsurfaced roads in the mining area has a substantial portion of the Pb concentration associated with the more mobile exchangeable-plus-carbonate and reducible geochemical phases. By comparison, unsurfaced road dusts outside the resource mining area have lower metal contents, as expected, and a larger portion of the total Pb concentration associated with the immobile oxidizable and non-silicate bound residual phases. SEM/EDS analysis suggests the minerals associated with the more mobile Pb components include cerussite, Pb oxides and sulfates. Compared with the coarser >1 μm size fraction of dust, the <1 μm fraction contains a substantially higher concentration of Pb in association with clay minerals. Extraction tests using simulated body fluids show that gastric fluid can mobilize as much as 69% of the total Pb concentration in mining area road dust samples after five hours. Simulated alveolar lung fluid also was an efficient extractor of Pb from the <1 μm sample dust fraction, dissolving up to 100% of the available Pb after 100 h. Regression analysis suggests that aqua regia total Pb concentration is a good predictor of mobility and bioaccessibility and can be used to minimize costs associated with monitoring suspended dust contamination.
Fine structure of polysaccharide microcrystals.

Negative staining showed the presence of microcrystals in various polysaccharides. Cellulose microcrystals from Valoniopsis, Vaucheria, and an unidentified tunicate had widths of 20, 27, and 30 A, respectively. Mannan microcrystals from Acetabularia were 10x25 A and were oriented in linear arrays with their long axis perpendicular to the array axis. dichotomosiphon and Caulerpa xylans had respective microcrystal widths of 22 and 24 A. All microcrystals appeared as component part of microfibrils.
Highly Selective Carbon Dioxide Uptake by [Cu(bpy-n)2(SiF6)] (bpy-1 = 4,4′-Bipyridine; bpy-2 = 1,2-Bis(4-pyridyl)ethene)

A previously known class of porous coordination polymer (PCP) of formula [Cu(bpy-n)2(SiF6)] (bpy-1 = 4,4′-bipyridine; bpy-2 = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethene) has been studied to assess its selectivity toward CO2, CH4, N2, and H2O. Gas sorption measurements reveal that [Cu(bpy-1)2(SiF6)] exhibits the highest uptake for CO2 yet seen at 298 K and 1 atm by a PCP that does not contain open metal sites. Significantly, [Cu(bpy-1)2(SiF6)] does not exhibit particularly high uptake under the same conditions for CH4, N2, and, H2O, presumably because of its lack of open metal sites. Consequently, at 298 K and 1 atm [Cu(bpy-1)2(SiF6)] exhibits a relative uptake of CO2 over CH4 of ca. 10.5:1, the highest value experimentally observed in a compound without open metal sites. [Cu(bpy-2)2(SiF6)] exhibits larger pores and surface area than [Cu(bpy-1)2(SiF6)] but retains a high CO2/CH4 relative uptake of ca. 8:1.
A theoretical investigation on the isomerism and the NMR properties of thiosemicarbazones

Hybrid density functional theory calculations at the mPW1PW91/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory have been used to investigate the optimized structures and other molecular properties of five different series of thiosemicarbazones. The investigated compounds were obtained from acenaphthenequinone, isatin and its derivatives, and alloxan. The focus of the study is the isomerism and the NMR characterization of these thiosemicarbazones. It was found that only one isomer is expected for thiosemicarbazones and methylthiosemicarbazones, while for dimethylthiosemicarbazones, two isomers are possible. All investigated thiosemicarbazones exhibit a hydrazinic proton that is highly deshielded and resonates far downfield in the proton NMR spectra. This proton is a part of a characteristic sixmembered ring, and its NMR properties are a result of its strong, intermolecular hydrogen bond. The relationships between the calculated 1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts and various geometric parameters are reported.
Pathogen-directed Therapy in Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are important events in the natural history of this chronic lung disorder. These events can be caused by a large number of infectious and noninfectious agents and are associated with an increased local and systemic inflammatory response. Their frequency and severity have been linked to progressive deterioration in lung function and health status. Infectious pathogens ranging from viral to atypical and typical bacteria have been implicated in the majority of episodes. Most therapeutic regimens to date have emphasized broad, nonspecific approaches to bronchoconstriction and pulmonary inflammation. Increasingly, therapy that targets specific etiologic pathogens has been advocated. These include clinical and laboratory-based methods to identify bacterial infections. Further additional investigation has suggested specific pathogens within this broad class. As specific antiviral therapies become available, better diagnostic approaches to identify specific pathogens will be required. Furthermore, prophylactic therapy for at-risk individuals during high-risk times may become a standard therapeutic approach. As such, the future will likely include aggressive diagnostic algorithms based on the combination of clinical syndromes and rapid laboratory modalities to identify specific causative bacteria or viruses.
Element-by-element linear and nonlinear solution schemes

The preconditionded conjugate gradient method for solving a linear algebraic system of equations is recast to a form that permits sequential element-by-element calculations suitable for computations with finite element methods. This strategy has been implemented for solving the linear systems arising in a finite element approximation for the standard test example of Laplace's equation. The element-by-element strategy has also been applied to the sequence of linear systems obtained using a successive approximation scheme for a representative class of nonlinear problems. Little storage is needed for these schemes, and test computations have been made on microprocessor, minicomputer, main-frame computers and special processors. The approach also appears appealing for calculations on parallel processors since individual element computations can be done in parallel.
Some relationships of contrasting emotions to cardiovascular disorders

Although the central nervous system is critically involved in the regulation of blood pressure, the relationship of anxiety to hypertension remains unclear. However, anxiety is closely related to various habits that affect the cardiovascular system: diet, weight, alcohol, eating and drinking, cigarette smoking, caffeine and life events. There is a high prevalence of mitral valve prolapse in subjects with anxiety disorders, but there is little evidence for a common genetic factor. A number of psychosocial factors are significantly related to the individual risk of CHD and the Type A behavior pattern (TABP) relates certain personality and behavioral characteristics that are important in this respect.
Cone Beam CT for Diagnosis and Treatment Planning in Trauma Cases

Three-dimensional imaging offers many advantages in making diagnoses and planning treatment. This article focuses on cone beam CT (CBCT) for making diagnoses and planning treatment in trauma-related cases. CBCT equipment is smaller and less expensive than traditional medical CT equipment and is tailored to address challenges specific to the dentoalveolar environment. Like medical CT, CBCT offers a three-dimensional view that conventional two-dimensional dental radiography fails to provide. CBCT combines the strengths of medical CT with those of conventional dental radiography to accommodate unique diagnostic and treatment-planning applications that have particular utility in dentoalveolar trauma cases. CBCT is useful, for example, in identifying tooth fractures relative to surrounding alveolar bone, in determining alveolar fracture location and morphology, in analyzing ridge-defect height and width, and in imaging temporomandibular joints. Treatment-planning applications include those involving extraction of fractured teeth, placement of implants, exposure of impacted teeth, and analyses of airways.
Maternal Undernutrition from Early- to Mid-Gestation Leads to Growth Retardation, Cardiac Ventricular Hypertrophy, and Increased Liver Weight in the Fetal Sheep

Early gestation is critical for placentomal growth, differentiation, and vascularization, as well as fetal organogenesis. The fetal origins of adult disease hypothesis proposes that alterations in fetal nutrition and endocrine status result in developmental adaptations that permanently change structure, physiology, and metabolism, thereby predisposing individuals to cardiovascular, metabolic, and endocrine disease in adult life. Multiparous ewes were fed to 50% (nutrient restricted) or 100% (control fed) of total digestible nutrients from Days 28 to 78 of gestation. All ewes were weighed weekly and diets adjusted for individual weight loss or gain. Ewes were killed on Day 78 of gestation and gravid uteri recovered. Fetal body and organ weights were determined, and numbers, morphologies, diameters, and weights of all placentomes were obtained. From Day 28 to Day 78, restricted ewes lost 7.4% of body weight, while control ewes gained 7.5%. Maternal and fetal blood glucose concentrations were reduced in restricted versus control pregnancies. Fetuses were markedly smaller in the restricted group than in the control group. Further, restricted fetuses exhibited greater right- and left-ventricular and liver weights per unit fetal weight than control fetuses. No treatment differences were observed in any gross placentomal measurement. However, caruncular vascularity was enhanced in conceptuses from nutrient-restricted ewes but only in twin pregnancies. While these alterations in fetal/placental development may be beneficial to early fetal survival in the face of a nutrient restriction, their effects later in gestation as well as in postnatal life need further investigation.
Detection by enzyme immunoassay of serum immunoglobulin G antibodies that recognize specific Cryptosporidium parvum antigens

Human infection with Cryptosporidium parvum usually elicits characteristic immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgA, and IgM antibody responses against two sporozoite surface antigens with apparent molecular masses of approximately 27 and 17 kDa. We have determined that these two antigens are actually complex families of related antigens. We have developed two new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for the detection and quantitation of serum IgG antibodies against both antigens. The assays utilize a recombinant form of the 27-kDa antigen and a partially purified native fraction isolated from sonicated whole oocysts that contains 17-kDa antigen. An immunoblot assay previously developed in our laboratory served as the reference, or “gold standard,” seroassay for the assessment of the new ELISAs. Positive responses with the recombinant-27-kDa-antigen ELISA were correlated with the immunoblot results for the 27-kDa antigen, with a sensitivity and specificity of 90 and 92%, respectively. Similarly, positive responses with the partially purified native-17-kDa-antigen ELISA correlated with the immunoblot results for the 17-kDa antigen, with a sensitivity and specificity of 90 and 94%, respectively. For both ELISAs the median IgG antibody levels for serum sets collected during outbreaks of waterborne C. parvum infection were at least 2.5-fold higher than the levels determined for a nonoutbreak set. Using the immunoblot as the “gold standard,” the new ELISAs were more specific and, in the case of the 27-kDa-antigen ELISA, more sensitive than the crude oocyst antigen ELISA currently in use. These assays will be useful in future epidemiologic studies.
Development of Zirconia Electrolyte Films on Porous Doped Lanthanum Manganite Cathodes by Electrophoretic Deposition

Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was explored as an inexpensive route for fabricating the 8 mol% yttria stabilized zirconia electrolyte in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Normally, deposition of particulate ceramic powders onto a sintered porous surface yields a non uniform coating which, after sintering, results in porosity, surface roughness and cracking in the coating. To overcome this problem, the present study used a fugitive graphite interlayer between the porous air electrode supported (AES) cathode tube (doped-LaMnO{sub 3}) and the deposited zirconia film. By this approach, a fairly dense green coating ({approximately}60%) was obtained, which yielded a smooth surface and pore-free microstructure after sintering. Preliminary results on the effect of a fugitive interlayer on the unfired (green) and fired zirconia coatings are discussed.