cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of powdery mildew infection of sugar beet on the content of electron carriers in chloroplasts

Abstract The effect of powdery mildew infection of sugar beets on the amount of electron carriers in infected leaves has been compared with control leaves. No decrease in the C-550 content was detected, suggesting that the Photosystem II reaction center is unaffected by infection. The Photosystem I reaction center, estimated on the basis of P700 photo-oxidation and bound iron-sulfur protein photoreduction, is also unaffected by mildew infection. In contrast to these carriers, infectivity affects the amount of chloroplast cytochromes in diseased leaves. Cytochrome f, cytochrome b559, H. P., cytochrome b6 and cytochrome b559 L.P. are decreased by approximately one-third in infected plants. These results indicate that obligate parasite infection may specifically alter the content of electron carriers involved in dark electrontransfer processes.
Hybrid Micro-Meso Mechanical Switch Array for Tactile Displays

Traditional MEMS actuators have limited stroke and force characteristics. This paper describes the development of a novel hybrid actuation solution, which utilizes a micro-machined actuator array to provide switching of mechanical motion of a larger meso-scale piezo-electric actuator. One motivating application of this technology is the development of a tactile display, where discrete mechanical actuators apply vibratory excitation at discrete locations on the skin. Specifically, this paper describes the development fabrication and characterization of a 4 × 5 micro-actuator array of individual vibrating pixels for fingertip tactile communication. The individual pixels are turned ON and OFF by pairs of microscopic thermal actuators, while the main vibration is generated by a vibrating piezo-electric plate. A thermo-electric and non-linear thermo-elastic models have been developed to account for the temperature dependence of the electrical resistance and the lateral buckling of the hot, respectively. Comparison between analytical and finite element models indicated very good agreement, confirming that the buckling of the hot arm has most significant impact in the overall actuator performance. The fabrication sequence and the actuation performance of the array are also presented.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
The role of immunopeptides in the regulation of anterior pituitary hormone release

The anterior pituitary lobe secretes hormones that regulate the functioning of the immune system which, in turn, produces thymic hormones and interleukin proteins capable of altering neuroendocrine responsiveness. Interleukin-1 is released during inflammation and activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which subsequently diminishes the immune response. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) stimulates prolactin and growth hormone release in vitro from anterior pituitary cells which, in turn, are capable of producing IL-6. The possible production of IL-6 by the anterior pituitary in situ suggests an autocrine and/or paracrine role for this cytokine in the regulation of hormone release.
Symptoms of patients with silent ischemia as detected by thallium stress testing.

This study was undertaken to determine whether patients with silent ischemia (SI) (a positive thallium stress test without chest pain) have nonchest-pain symptoms that might serve as "anginal equivalents." Two hundred ninety-four individuals on completing a stress test were requested to score ten symptoms on a questionnaire (0 absent; 3 severe). Forty-three with a positive test had pains (chest, back, arm, and/or jaw) (no SI), whereas 93 with a positive test did not (SI). Patients with SI and patients without SI did not differ as to age, gender, or clinical features (including presence of diabetes or a history of myocardial infarction), but patients with SI were less likely to report a history of effort-related chest pains. Patients with SI exercised longer and had a higher peak heart rate. Patients were comparable with respect to myocardial ischemia (ST segment depression, double product, thallium lung uptake, and positive thallium scintigrams) and severity of coronary disease. Patients with SI complained less of weakness (p
Innate recognition of fungal cell walls.

The emergence of fungal infections as major causes of morbidity and mortality in immunosuppressed individuals has prompted studies into how the host recognizes fungal pathogens. Fungi are eukaryotes and as such share many similarities with mammalian cells. The most striking difference, though, is the presence of a cell wall that serves to protect the fungus from environmental stresses, particularly osmotic changes [1]. This task is made challenging because the fungus must remodel itself to allow for cell growth and division, including the conversion to different morphotypes, such as occurs during germination of spherical spores into filamentous hyphae. The cell wall also connects the fungus with its environment by triggering intracellular signaling pathways and mediating adhesion to other cells and extracellular matrices. Here, important facts and concepts critical for understanding innate sensing of the fungal cell wall by mammalian pathogens are reviewed.
Surveillance and the indifferent gaze in Michael Haneke's Caché (2005)

ABSTRACTMichael Haneke's Cache/Hidden (2005) has generated a level of critical discussion that has quickly established the film as a defining work of early twenty-first century French cinema. Noticeably absent from this wealth of analysis is an examination of how Cache's formal experimentation with surveillance technology directly informs its treatment of the political and ethical issues of postcolonialism. Drawing from the practices of 1960s ‘surveillance art’, as well as the CCTV aesthetic of reality television, this article addresses this critical gap by focusing on how Cache's filmic apparatus captures the alienation of emotion from phenomenological experience. Cache presents an alternative to Foucault's visual economy of self-regulation (panopticisme) in that its protagonist Georges internalizes the disinterested and subject-less gaze of the ever-present camera rather than the interested gaze of the prison guard. This process results in a state of emotional indifference: Georges is an unmoved witness...
Intercontinental Differences in the Abundance of Solenopsis Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Escape from Natural Enemies?

Center for Medical Agric. and Veterinary Entomology USDA-ARS, P.O. Box 14565, Gainesville, FL 32604
Coalescence Kinetics of Lipid Based Bicelles

Uniform nanodisc structures can be self assembled from mixtures of different phospholipids. This study focuses on the theoretical and experimental growth kinetics of phospholipid based nanodiscs. Motivation for this project comes from the nanodisc’s small size and their potential use as a carrier for drug delivery. It was observed that at high total lipid concentration the nanodiscs are stable at approximately 10 nm in radius and can remain stable for a long period of time. However, growth of these nanodiscs are observed at relatively low total lipid concentration. The observed growth mechanism is not well understood. In this thesis dynamic light scattering is used to monitor the size and growth rate of nanodiscs at different solution conditions. It is determined that disc-disc interactions play an important role in the stability of the disc structures. More importantly surface charge on the nanodisc prevent growth due to the electric repulsive force. The growth at low concentrations is caused by the transfer of charged lipids from the discs to the solution, therefore reducing the Columbic interaction between two interacting discs. The effect of size and different surface potentials can be modeled by the Smoluchowski transport equation along with the transport limited boundary conditions. Chapter 1 to 5 include the experimental method, results and mathematical model for this research. iii The last part of this thesis, chapter 6, presents the relevant microrheology experiments. The aim is to obtain viscoelastic properties of complex fluids in the frequency range between 10 to 10 Hz, gives insight into the frequency dependent particle-particle or disc-disc interactions in suspensions.
Deadlock-free multicast wormhole routing in 2-D mesh multicomputers

Multicast communication services, in which the same message is delivered from a source node to an arbitrary number of destination nodes, are being provided in new-generation multicomputers. Broadcast is a special case of multicast in which a message is delivered to all nodes in the network. The nCUBE-2, a wormhole-routed hypercube multicomputer, provides hardware support for broadcast and a restricted form of multicast in which the destinations form a subcube. However, the broadcast routing algorithm adopted in the nCUBE-2 is not deadlock-free. In this paper, four multicast wormhole routing strategies for 2-D mesh multicomputers are proposed and studied. All of the algorithms are shown to be deadlock-free. These are the first deadlock-free multicast wormhole routing algorithms ever proposed. A simulation study has been conducted that compares the performance of these multicast algorithms under dynamic network traffic conditions in a 2-D mesh. The results indicate that a dual-path routing algorithm offers performance advantages over tree-based, multipath, and fixed-path algorithms. >
Transcriptional control in the production of liver-specific mRNAs

cDNA clones complementary to liver mRNA were prepared and used to determine transcription rates of specific genes in isolated nuclei from liver, brain, and hepatoma cells. The cDNA sequences complementary to mRNA found only (or mainly) in the liver hybridize to labeled nuclear RNA only from liver nuclei. It appears that transcriptional events are primarily responsible for the synthesis of these, and perhaps most, tissue-specific moderately abundant mRNAs.
Negative symptom resolution and improvements in specific cognitive deficits after acute treatment in first-episode schizophrenia

Patients with first-episode schizophrenia show significant cognitive impairments even at this early phase of their illness. Antipsychotic medication improves clinical symptomatology, but the effectiveness of this treatment on neuropsychological deficits remains unclear. We investigated clinical symptom and neuropsychological performance change in 34 unmedicated first-episode psychotic patients (17 males, 17 females) from the time prior to treatment until 33.6±11.3 days after treatment initiation at which time patients demonstrated meaningful recovery from psychosis. Twenty-four matched healthy subjects were also studied. Performance in most neuropsychological functions (language skills, attention, nonverbal learning and reasoning, motor speed) remained stable for the group as a whole. However, reduction in negative symptoms was significantly correlated with performance increases in verbal fluency and attention. Higher negative symptom recovery was associated with improvement of cognitive performance to levels approaching those of healthy subjects, whereas low or no negative symptom improvement was associated with stable or decreased cognitive performance. Reduction in positive symptoms was not associated with change in cognitive abilities. These findings suggest a linkage between early, treatment-induced improvements in negative symptoms and reductions in distinct cognitive deficits.
Open Educational Resources and the New Classroom Ecology

The article presents a response to the 2013 article "Materials in the Classroom Ecology" by Anne Marie Guerrettaz and Bill Johnston. Topics discussed include the use of teaching materials, such as textbooks, in language teaching and the use of digital open educational resources (OER) in language teaching,
Three-dimensional organization of retroviral capsid proteins on a lipid monolayer.

Abstract We have used a method for the two-dimensional crystallization of retroviral structural proteins to obtain a three-dimensional structure of negatively stained, membrane-bound, histidine-tagged Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MuLV) capsid protein (his-MoCA) arrays. Tilted and untilted micrographs from crystals formed by purified his-MoCA proteins incubated beneath lipid monolayers containing nickel-chelating lipids were used in 3D reconstructions. The 2D crystals had unit cell dimensions of a =72.6 A, b =72.5 A and γ=119.5 °, but appeared to have no intrinsic symmetry ( p 1) in 3D, in contrast to the trigonal or hexagonal appearance of their 2D projections. Membrane-bound his-MoCA proteins showed a strand-like organization, apparently with dimer building blocks. Membrane-proximal regions, or putative N-terminal domains (NTDs), dimerized with different partners than the membrane-distal putative C-terminal domains (CTDs). Evidence also suggests that CTDs can adopt alternate orientations relative to their NTDs, forming interstrand connections. Our results are consistent with helical-spiral models for retrovirus particle assembly, but are not easily reconcilable with icosahedral models.
Simple direct torque control of induction machine using space vector modulation

A new method for direct torque control (DTC) based on load angle control is developed. The use of simple equations to obtain the control algorithm makes it easier to understand and implement. Fixed switching frequency and low torque ripple are obtained using space vector modulation, overcoming the most important drawbacks of classic DTC.
Fludarabine-Based Conditioning Secures Engraftment of Second Hematopoietic Stem Cell Allografts (HSCT) in the Treatment of Initial Graft Failure

Abstract Graft failure is associated with a high mortality rate. To date, regimens invoked for second transplants have resulted in inconsistent engraftment with high transplant-related mortality (TRM). We here report 16 consecutive patients, aged 4-59 years, who received second HSCT (HSCT-2) at a median of 45 days following primary or secondary failure of an initial unmodified (N = 3) or T cell-depleted (TCD) (N = 13) HSCT (HSCT-1). HSCT-1 was administered after myeloablative total body irradiation (TBI)- or alkylator-based conditioning for acute leukemias (N = 7), MDS (N = 6), CML (N = 2), and Fanconi anemia (N = 1). All patients experienced 1 or more infectious complications between HSCT-1 and HSCT-2, and 10 patients had active infections at the time of HSCT-2. Cytoreduction regimens used for HSCT-2 included fludarabine (Flu) in combination with cyclophosphamide (CTX) (N = 9), or thiotepa (Thio) (N = 5). In addition, 1 patient received Flu alone and 1 patient Thio combined with CTX. Antithymocyte globulin (ATG) (N = 11) or Alemtuzumab (N = 3) was added pretransplant to prevent rejection. For HSCT-2, donors included HLA-matched (N = 3) or mismatched (N = 8) related, or matched (N = 2) or mismatched (N = 3) unrelated donors. The primary graft donor was used in 6 of 16 cases. The grafts administered were unmodified peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) (N = 5) or bone marrow transplantation (BMT) (N = 3), TCD PBSCT (N = 8). All patients achieved engraftment at a median of 12 days and evaluable patients achieved complete donor chimerism. Six patients are alive with a median follow-up of 49 months, including 4/9 conditioned with Flu/CTX. In this series, outcome was statistically superior for younger patients (≤20 years). In summary, second HSCT using the combination of a fludarabine- and ATG-based, nonmyeloablative regimen and higher numbers of CD34+ progenitor cells has been associated with acceptable toxicity and allowed consistent engraftment with hematopoietic reconstitution in patients with previous graft failure.
Intergroup Contact: Effects on Group Evaluations and Perceived Variability

We argue that the two different components of group perceptions, namely group evaluations and perceptions of group variability, are affected by intergroup contact in rather different ways. Consiste...
Clinical profile of primary hyperparathyroidism in adolescents and young adults

OBJECTIVE Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is an uncommonly diagnosed condition among adolescents and young adults. We review the clinical characteristics of these patients based on our institutional experience. SUBJECTS Patients aged 12–28 years treated for PHPT at our institution from 1990 to 1996 were evaluated by a review of medical records and current follow-up data. This consisted of 22 patients (8M:14F), constituting approximately 3% of all patients operated for PHPT during this period. MEASUREMENTS Serum and urinary calcium concentrations, renal function, and serum intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) levels were measured in all patients. After biochemical confirmation of diagnosis, the patients completed a questionnaire to evaluate the presence of symptoms and/or conditions associated with PHPT. All the patients underwent parathyroidectomy and their tumour characteristics were evaluated. Surgical outcome was determined by measurements of serum calcium and iPTH levels postoperatively and during long-term follow-up. RESULTS A third of the patients were diagnosed by routine serum chemistry whereas two-thirds presented with symptoms or conditions associated with hypercalcaemia. Non-specific complaints such as fatigue or exhaustion, and weakness or lethargy constitute the most common findings on questionnaire review. A family history of PHPT was present in only 2 patients. The preoperative peak serum calcium levels ranged from 2.67 to 4.19 mmol/l (norm: 2.10–2.54 mmol/l), with a median of 3.07 mmol/l. Surgical pathologies revealed 59% solitary adenoma, 27% hyperplasia, 9% multiple adenomas and 5% carcinoma. Comparison between the adolescents (aged 12–18 years) and young adults (aged 19–28 years) revealed no differences in the clinical, pathological or laboratory profiles, except for a male predominance in adolescent patients. Fifteen patients had resection of one or more adenomas while 7 underwent subtotal parathyroidectomy. Six patients (27%) were reoperated cases, all received primary treatment elsewhere. All patients with benign PHPT were cured surgically, with a median follow-up of 47 months (range 3–77 months). One reoperated patient developed permanent hypocalcaemia. One patient with carcinoma underwent several operations for recurrence; he is now eucalcaemic despite persistent disease at 80 months from diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS We found a high incidence of multiglandular disease and relatively non-specific symptomatology in our adolescent and young adult patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. In view of the heterogeneous clinical expression noted in young patients, one should consider primary hyperparathyroidism in the differential diagnosis of unexplained non-specific complaints, and perform serum calcium estimations more readily in these subjects. Our experience suggests that primary hyperparathyroidism can be a serious disease with significant morbidity if left untreated, whereas parathyroidectomy provides successful results.
LAW AND THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES: IS THERE ANY THERE THERE?

Despite tremendous growth in the field, there have been many challenges to law and the behavioral sciences. The most colorful expression is Abel’s charge that “questions and answers have begun to sound a comfortable, but rather boring ‘clackity-clack.”’ On one hand, the achievements of the field cannot be ignored by those who want to think about law seriously. On the other hand, all approaches to the field are flawed and are likely to remain that way. Help in solving the problems of the field might come from a thorough interdisciplinary approach, calling on the contributions of all social sciences while recognizing the limitations of each; knowledge of a minimum amount of law and legal method, but with full awareness of how legal thought may distort definitions of problems; and knowledge of the questions posed by broader social theories in light of an empirical refining of their large explanations.
Biasing the behavior of organizationally adept agents: (extended abstract)

An {organizationally adept agent (OAA) adjusts its behavior when given annotated organizational guidelines. More importantly, it can also determine when such guidelines become ineffective and proactively adapt its behavior to better achieve organizational objectives. We present the high-level aspects of this architecture and analyze its effectiveness using call-center OAAs striving to extinguish fires in RoboCup Rescue scenarios.
Estimation of lower-bound K{sub Jc} on pressure vessel steels from invalid data

Statistical methods are currently being introduced into the transition temperature characterization of ferritic steels. Objective is to replace imprecise correlations between empirical impact test methods and universal K{sub Ic} or K{sub Ia} lower-bound curves with direct use of material-specific fracture mechanics data. This paper introduces a computational procedure that couples order statistics, weakest-link statistical theory, and a constraint model to arrive at estimates of lower-bound K{sub Jc} values. All of the above concepts have been used before to meet various objectives. In the present case, scheme is to make a best estimate of lower-bound fracture toughness when resource K{sub Jc} data are too few to use conventional statistical analyses. Utility of the procedure is of greatest value in the middle-to-high toughness part of the transition range where specimen constraint loss and elevated lower-bound toughness interfere with conventional statistical analysis methods.
Control of the Products of Serpentinization by the Fe2+Mg –1 Exchange Potential of Olivine and Orthopyroxene

It is argued that the high-Mg content (mg-number1⁄4 95 3) of the serpentine minerals in serpentinized peridotite is a consequence of the environmental FeMg 1 exchange potential imposed on the system by the abundance of olivine and orthopyroxene. Mass balance in the serpentinization reaction then requires the precipitation of an ironrich mineral that in most cases is magnetite.This causes hydrogen to be evolved in an oxygen-conserved reaction.The low-variance mineral assemblage Olþ SrpþBrcþMag sets the chemical potentials of H2O, SiO2 and O2 internally at an early stage in the process, but the paragenetic assessment of serpentinites is rendered difficult by the variable and usually unknown Fe3þ content of the serpentine minerals, particularly lizardite. Whole-rock analyses of highly to completely serpentinized peridotites reveal Fe/SFe ratios40 4, with an average value (0 69) similar to that of magnetite (0 67). This feature may be attributed to the presence of high-Fe lizardite, as has been found in Mo« ssbauer spectroscopy studies. Electron microprobe and scanning electron microcope analyses in the literature exhibit element trends (e.g. decreasing Si vs SFe a.p.f.u.) for olivinepseudomorph lizardite and, with some exceptions, for bastite lizardite, that show a substitution of the cronstedtite component (Fe charge-balanced onTand M sites). Cronstedtite substitution will be favoured at low temperature and/or low hydrogen fugacity, and in these circumstances less magnetite will be evolved during serpentinization, in some cases none at all. Some bastite lizardites from sea-floor settings show evidence of M-site vacancy substitution of Fe for Fe. In the course of progressive serpentinization, micrometer to millimeter-scale variations in SiO2 potential may well be present, but their influence on Fe in lizardite seems to be limited to a few cases of lizardite associated with orthopyroxene. Chrysotile is on average more Mg-rich and less variable in Fe/Mg ratio than lizardite, facts that may be attributed to the greater Fe content of lizardite. Chrysotile veins provide the best record available to us of the environmental FeMg 1 exchange potential in the pore fluid attending serpentinization.This potential serves as a robust control on serpentine and brucite compositions, although it may fail after olivine and orthopyroxene have been armoured or eliminated, and in more open-system environments (high water/rock ratio) such as on the sea floor or at serpentinite host-rock contacts. The default assumption in microprobe analyses that measured iron is all Fe can lead to inappropriate petrological conclusions in the case of serpentinites.
CMOS transistor sizing for minimization of energy-delay product

In this paper, we revisit three of the well known optimization results in CMOS transistor sizing with the energy-delay product as a new metric. We study the absolute sizes of and the ratio between n-channel and p-channel transistor widths in uniform logic, the optimal distance between repeaters in an RC line, and the optimum number of inverter stages, along with their sizes, needed to drive a large load capacitance. Results, both theoretical and numerical, show that in general the optimum solutions for energy-delay lead to smaller designs than the ones obtained for minimum delay.
Proliferation of lymphocyte-like cells from the solitary tunicate, Styela clava, in response to allogeneic stimuli.

Lymphocyte-like hemocytes (LLCs) of solitary tunicates proliferate in response to allogeneic stimuli. In vitro labeling of proliferative hemocytes from the solitary species Styela clava revealed significantly greater proliferative activity among individuals immunized with allogeneic tissue as opposed to autogeneically primed and naive animals. Enhanced proliferation was restricted to discrete crypts of dividing cells within the body wall of recipients. Here, increased proliferative activity was specifically associated with LLCs. These data support previous results which implicated LLC activity with immunological memory that is evident in allograft rejection. Hence, it is postulated that adaptive histoincompatibility responses in solitary tunicates depend upon the specific proliferation of immunocompetent cells.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NAMIB DESERT TENEBRIONID BEETLE ONYMACRIS RUGATIPENNIS

Onymacris rugatipennis is one of several diurnal adesmiine tenebrionid beetles living in various habitats near Gobabeb in the Namib Desert, South West Africa.Late in the active part of the female daily cycle and before they dig into the ground, females are often persistently followed by one or more males. Intruding male challenges to followers are commonplace. Following occurs during the latter phase of the morning and especially during the afternoon activity cycle. Early in these activity cycles the principle male activity is feeding. Males emerge in the morning earlier than females, and late in their activity period most males are engaged in following or attempts to dislodge other followers. Of the five diurnal adesmiine species living near Gobabeb, only the males of O. rugatipennis fight with one another and defend space. Their space is maintained above the site where a female has dug into the ground at midday or in the evening. Defense involves exclusion of other males from the immediate vicinity of the female. Alien males are immediately evicted, but on some occasions there are serious challenges. Pairs of males may engage in vigorous wrestling matches involving head butting, shoving, throwing, biting, and kicking. Evenly matched individuals may wrestle for over 30 min and for more than 20 falls. The winner of such encounters remains over the buried female. The last individual to hold the space in the evening may mate with the resident female. The observed behavior is not territorial in the sense that there are no mutually recognized frontiers. There is, however, exclusive use of space and aggressive defense of that space.Social order is re-established daily. There are no persistent inter-individual bonds between males and females. Males may return to the general area but not the exact place where they held space the previous day. Many individuals move long distances from the place where they were active on the preceding day.Larger males tend to win wrestling matches. However, males are on the average smaller than females. Since larval males live in the habitats occupied by females, adult male body size is apparently not limited by larval energy limits. Hence we conclude that small adult male body size conveys advantages which may outweigh the disadvantage in wrestling matches. Some of the possible selection relationships countering large male size are discussed.Females reject most mating attempts by males when they are active on the surface. They exercise no choice in mate selection following burrowing. Hence the mating system results in mating by the most persistent male followers and aggressive individuals able to hold the space above the place where the female burrows into the ground.
Verification of Digital RF Processors: RF, Analog, Baseband, and Software

Single-chip RF SoCs are seeing widespread acceptance in wireless applications. In this paper we address the issue of design verification of single-chip RF SOCs in a framework that accepts RF input and analyzes receiver BER performance and transmitter output distortion and phase noise by processing several thousand packets of baseband information while compensation algorithms are simultaneously executed. No comprehensive methodology exists to date for designing such complex systems. This paper present a novel approach that allows building complex RF SoC systems based on VHDL modeling and simulation and opens up major avenues of model development for RF and analog circuits. This approach has been successfully applied to verify two generations of digital RF processors (DRP) in deep-submicron technologies
The Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation team: overview and IKONOS joint characterization approach

An overview of the Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evalation (JACIE) team is presented. JACIE, composed of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), was formed to leverage government agencies' capabilities for the characterization of commercial remote sensing data. Each JACIE agency purchases, or plans to purchase, commercial imagery to support its research and applications. It is critical that the data be assessed for its accuracy and utility. Through JACIE, NASA, NIMA, and USGS jointly characterized image products from Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite. Each JACIE agency performed an aspect of the characterization based on its expertise. NASA and its university partners performed a system characterization focusing on radiometric calibration, geopositional accuracy, and spatial resolution assessment; NIMA performed image interpretability and feature extraction evaluations; and USGS assessed geopositional accuracy of several IKONOS products. The JACIE team purchased IKONOS imagery of several study sites to perform the assessments and presented results at an industry-government workshop. Future plans for JACIE include the characterization of DigitalGlobe's QuickBird-2 image products.
Characterization of Cryptosporidium meleagridis of Human Origin Passaged through Different Host Species

Cryptosporidium meleagridis, a protozoon first observed in turkeys, has been linked by several investigators to cryptosporidiosis in humans. C. meleagridis is the only known Cryptosporidium species that infects both avian and mammalian species. We describe the successful propagation of C. meleagridis (isolate TU1867), originally purified from a patient with diarrhea, in laboratory animals including chickens, mice, piglets, and calves. TU1867 was readily transmitted from one animal host to another, maintaining genetic homogeneity and stability. The rate of infectivity and virulence of TU1867 for the mammalian species were similar to those of Cryptosporidium parvum. Laboratory propagation of genetically and phenotypically stable and well-characterized reference isolates, representing various Cryptosporidium species, particularly those infectious to humans, will improve considerably the spectrum and quality of laboratory and field investigations on this medically important protozoa.
How Much Does National Culture Constrain Organizational Culture

abstract The assumption of strategy approaches like the resource based view is that, despite environmental constraints, ample room remains for organizations to differentiate on the basis of organizational culture (together with related human resource practices) to achieve sustained competitive advantage. In contrast, other perspectives assume that management practice and organizational culture mirror, or are constrained by, national culture. To the degree that such a constraint exists, within-country variance in culture should be small and between-country variance large. In statistical terms, the first question is: what is the magnitude of the effect size for country? The larger the effect, the more likely it is a constraint. Second, what portion of the country effect size is due to differences in national culture? My review finds that most of the variance in organizational cultures is not explained by country; of the variance that is explained by country, only a minority is due to national culture differences. As such, there may be more room for organizational differentiation than typically recognized. Third, under what circumstances will country and national culture effects be larger or smaller? I present a model suggesting more room for differentiation in countries having greater individual level variance in cultural values and related variables.
Asialoorosomucoid hepatobiliary transport is unaltered by the loss of liver asialoglycoprotein receptors in aged rats.

The hepatobiliary transport of asialoorosomucoid (ASOR) was examined in aging male Fischer 344 rats. The time course of transport of 125I-ASOR from blood to bile was identical in both senescent and young adult rats. Peak secretion occurred at approximately 35 minutes after injection via the femoral vein. Total secretion of radiolabeled ASOR (3.6% of injected dose), bile secretion and rate of secretion of radiolabeled ligand (approximately 2% of administered dose/hr/gm bile/liver) were not significantly different for the two age groups. Determination of the binding capacity for 125I-ASOR with liver plasma membrane-enriched preparations showed the membranes from old animals capable of binding approximately 50% less radiolabeled ligand as the young adult animals. Analysis of the distribution of 125I-ASOR autoradiographic grains along the liver lobule indicated extensive uptake of ligand in Zone 2 and 3 cells in senescent animals, whereas uptake in young rats was essentially limited to Zone 1 parenchymal cells. These results indicate that, contrary to the age-related loss of hepatic receptors for dimeric IgA and the concomitant reduction in hepatobiliary secretion of IgA, loss of ASOR binding capacity on liver plasma membranes from old animals is not reflected in diminished hepatobiliary secretion of ASOR. The loss of ASOR binding capacity is offset by the recruitment of Zone 2 and 3 hepatocytes along the liver lobule. This result suggests that hepatic metabolism and hepatobiliary secretion of macromolecules which exhibit a lobular gradient of uptake (e.g. ASOR) will be relatively less affected by loss of receptors compared to ligands which do not display such a gradient (e.g. IgA).
A step-by-step guide for implementing alcohol screening & brief intervention in primary care: pilot & evaluation in three U.S. settings

Background Risky alcohol use can cause a range of negative consequences, including motor vehicle crashes, intimate partner violence, and medical conditions such as hypertension, gastritis, liver disease, and various cancers [1]. Alcohol use during pregnancy can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) [2,3]. Over thirty years of research has shown that alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI) is effective at reducing risky drinking. Yet, it has not been integrated widely into clinical settings. In 2014, CDC released Planning and Implementing Screening and Brief Intervention for Risky Alcohol Use: A Step-by-Step Guide for Primary Care Practices [4]. The guide provides a practical process that primary care settings can use to implement alcohol SBI. Prior to publication, a draft version of the guide was tested with three CDC-funded FASD Regional Training Centers (RTCs) to implement alcohol SBI as routine care for all adults in 10 primary care clinics in Alaska, Nevada, and Tennessee.
Documentary Film Classics: Chronicle of a Summer

The one thing which we seek with insatiable desire is to forget ourselves, to be surprised out of our propriety, to lose our sempiternal memory, and to do something without knowing how or why; in short, to draw a new circle. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. The way of life is wonderful; it is by abandonment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Circles” In the concluding sequence of Chronicle of a Summer , the pioneering experiment in “cinema-verite” they filmed in 1960 and released the following year, Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin walk the corridors of the Musee de l'Homme in Paris conducting a postmortem of the event that has just taken place. They have screened rough-cut sequences from their work-in-progress to the ordinary men and women of various walks of life who are in it, whose everyday lives are what the film is about, and presided over a discussion, at times heated, of the film's strengths and weaknesses. A chagrined Morin sums this discussion up by saying, “They either criticized our characters as not being true to life or else they found them too true.” That is, they complained that the people in the film came across as actors who masked their true selves, or else as exhibitionists who stripped their souls bare to the point of indecency. Morin laments the audience's unwillingness or inability to recognize sincerity when it is, as he puts it, “a bit more than life-size.”
Proportional Response as Iterated Cobb-Douglas

We show that the proportional response algorithm for computing an economic equilibrium in a Fisher market model can be interpreted as iteratively approximating the economy by one with Cobb-Douglas utilities, for which a closed-form equilibrium can be obtained. We also extend the method to allow elasticities of substitution at most one.
Metabolic Activation of Chemicals to Reactive Electrophiles: An Overview*

ABSTRACT The pharmacologic and toxic properties of most organic compounds appear to result from noncovalent, and thus reversible, interactions with cellular molecules over a wide range of binding affinities. On the other hand, the toxic manifestations of most, if not all, chemical carcinogens, many mutagens, some allergens, and some drugs appear to arise from covalent interactions in vivo . The covalent interactions of many chemicals may thus pose a variety of carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, allergenic, and necrogenic hazards in their use or presence in humans and their environments. Most chemical carcinogens and most drugs that yield covalent interactions in vivo are unreactive per se and must be activated metabolically to form strong electrophilic reactants. These electrophiles combine covalently with numerous nucleophilic sites in cellular molecules, especially the nucleic acids and proteins. The metabolic conversion of organic compounds to electrophilic reactants can be detected and measured in several ways. The mutagenic activities of these reactive metabolites are the basis of the most sensitive tests currently available. Examples of the metabolism of chemical carcinogens, drugs, and other compounds to reactive electrophiles will be presented at this symposium.
Nurse education specialist utilizing career coaching to encourage lifelong learning

Nursing as a profession in the current healthcare climate requires the professional development of nurses from the bedside to the boardroom. Career coaches emphasize the importance of continued professional development in a way that will motivate and employ nurses to seek to move their careers to the next level. The program was established to assist nurses in the pursuit of advanced education and prepare them for leading the future in nursing. With guidance from the program, registered nurses are encouraged to pursue promotion, certification, the transition to various practice areas of greater interest, and leadership roles. Ultimately, the career counselors aid the nurses in encouraging lifelong learning and the pursuit of personal as well as professional goals. The career coaching program can assist with job satisfaction and organization succession planning. This article describes an excellent solution for succession planning within an organization looking to develop nurse talent for growth and retention.
2D and 3D Performance Prediction of a Convergent Nozzle at Pressure Ratios from 1.4 to 7 and Comparison with Wind Tunnel Data

This paper discusses the validity and accuracy of CFD technology/codes when compared to empirical data obtained through wind tunnel testing. A CFD study was conducted using ANSYS CFX, and Fluent©® to assess nozzle flows related to air breathing propulsion. The nozzles were of various convergent angles and were tested for pressure ratios ranging from 1.4 to 7. The effect of mesh fidelity, solver type, and turbulence models on the accuracy of the results and computing power consumption were assessed and are presented. 2D axisymmetric nozzle models were used to get flow properties such as the discharge and thrust coefficients among others. 3D models were used to further evaluate the 2D model prediction and were compared to experimental shadowgraph visualization. The results of the CFD analysis were less than 0.9 percent different from the measurement, validating CFD as a well-founded tool for quick and accurate prediction regarding aerodynamic design.
Protoporphyrin production of Tetrahymena geleii.

SummaryA strain of Tetrahymena geleii W at the end of its rapid phase of growth on solid media in darkness turns red-brown. The main pigment component has been identified as protoporphyrin. A minor component containing protoporphyrin appears to be bound to some fatty material.
Anomalous Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering Characterization of Model Pressure Vessel Alloy Microstructures

Anomalous small-angle x-ray scattering (ASAXS) experiments were performed at energies near the Mn-K and Fe-K absorption edges on an Fe-0.9 Cu wt.%-1.0 Mn wt.% alloy subjected to either annealing at 450°C, 24 hrs or irradiation with 10 MeV electrons to 0.5 mdpa at 300°C. A Guinier analysis of the net scattered intensity revealed scatterers with radii of 16.5.16.8 A and 16.4.17.3 A for the irradiated and annealed foils, respectively. The variation in net scattered intensity with photon energy in the annealed sample was consistent with scattering contrast variations expected for Cu-rich, Cu-Mn precipitates. Minimal variation in net intensity (scattering contrast) with energy determined that Cu-Mn precipitates were not detected in the irradiated sample.
Rapid clearance of syngeneic transplanted hepatocytes following transduction with E-1-deleted adenovirus indicates early host immune responses and offers novel ways for studying viral vector, target cell and host interactions.

Rapid clearance of syngeneic transplanted hepatocytes following transduction with E-1-deleted adenovirus indicates early host immune responses and offers novel ways for studying viral vector, target cell and host interactions
Heterogeneity of Acquired or Common Variable Agammaglobulinemia

Abstract Circulating T (thymus-derived) and B (bone-marrow-derived) lymphocytes were assessed in 19 patients with common variable or "acquired" agamma-globulinemia. T-cell number and function were concomitantly depressed in five of these patients who had other debilitating illnesses. B-cell number was normal in 10 patients, increased in five, and markedly reduced in four. Transformation of B cells into immunoglobulin (Ig) secretory cells in the presence of a soluble T-cell-derived lymphocyte mitogenic factor (LMF) was studied in the 15 patients with B cells. B cells from nine of these patients, when stimulated with LMF, failed to synthesize Ig. In five other patients, B cells divided and made Ig, but they failed to secrete it. A single patient had a factor in his serum that inhibited activation of both normal and autologous B cells by LMF. "Acquired" or common variable agammaglobulinemia is a heterogeneous disease caused by defects occurring at various steps in the maturation pathway of the B cell into an...
Determination of Fumaric Acid in Scandent Schefflera Root by HPLC

Objective To establish a quantitative analysis method to reflect the quality of Scandent Schefflera Root through detecting the content of fumaric acid.Methods The content of fumaric acid was detected by HPLC on a Kromasil C18(250 mm × 4.6 mm,5 μm)column with a mobile phase con-sisting of acetonitrile and 0.1% phosphoric acid solution(5∶95).The detection wavelength was 210 nm.Results In the range from 0.102 4 to 3.067 2 μg,reference substance concentrations of fumaric acid showed a good linear relationship to peak area(r=0.999 5,n=7).The average recovery was 99.05%(RSD=0.55%).Conclusion HPLC method is simple,sensitive and accurate for the determination of fumaric acid content and can be used for quality control of Scandent Schefflera Root.
Return to Play After Lumbar Spine Surgery

Surgical management of lumbar spine conditions can produce excellent outcomes in athletes. Microdiscectomy for lumbar disc herniation has favorable outcomes; most athletes return to play at preoperative performance levels. Direct pars repair is successful in younger athletes, with high rates of return to play for a variety of fixation techniques. Fusion in athletes with scoliosis is a negative predictor. There are few evidence-based return to play criteria. Athletes should demonstrate full resolution of symptoms and flexibility, endurance, and strength before returning to play. Deciding when to return an athlete to sport depends on particular injury sustained, sport, and individual factors.
Detection of cortical lesions in multiple sclerosis: A new imaging approach:

Cortical lesions occur early in multiple sclerosis (MS) and are thought to have clinical implications. Conventional MRI is insensitive to cortical pathology. Investigational imaging modalities show improved but incomplete cortical lesion detection and are time and resource intensive. Gradient echo plural contrast imaging (GEPCI) is sensitive to MS white matter pathology and can be performed on standard MRI scanners. Here we used GEPCI to examine autopsied MS frontal brain tissues. Two cortical MS lesions were visually distinguished from surrounding tissue by GEPCI and immunohistochemical staining. Furthermore, these lesions were quantitatively differentiated from healthy tissue using GEPCI-derived metrics.
Overview of Sickle Cell Anemia Pathophysiology

Sickle cell disease, caused by a mutation in the β-hemoglobin gene, is a Mendelian disorder with a very diverse phenotype. The primary cause of disease pathophysiology is the deoxygenation-induced polymerization of the mutant sickle hemoglobin. This ultimately leads to vasoocclusion by damaged sickle erythrocytes that interact with the endothelium and other blood cells, and the hemolysis of sickle cells within and outside of the vasculature. Treatment can target these separate but interconnected pathophysiologic pathways of sickle vasoocclusion and hemolytic anemia but targeting effectively a single limb or aspect of pathophysiology might have unintended consequences and increase the chance of complications closely associated with the other pathophysiologic pathway. The prime approach to treatment would be to effectively increase the level of the antisickling fetal hemoglobin in most sickle erythrocytes thereby thwarting all downstream effects of this primary pathophysiologic event.