cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Wdr5 is essential for osteoblast differentiation.

Wdr5 is developmentally expressed in osteoblasts and accelerates osteoblast differentiation in vitro and in vivo. To address whether Wdr5 is essential for osteoblast differentiation, plasmid-based small interfering RNAs were used to stably suppress endogenous Wdr5 protein levels in MC3T3-E1 cells. Reduction of endogenous Wdr5 levels markedly inhibited osteoblast differentiation, evidenced by a significant decrease in alkaline phosphatase activity, Runx-2 and osteocalcin mRNAs, and absence of mineralized matrix formation. Wdr5 suppression also resulted in a reduction of histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation, confirming its critical role in this modification. Because Wdr5 overexpression enhances canonical Wnt signaling in osteoblasts in vivo, the effects of Wdr5 silencing on this pathway were examined. The expression of the canonical Wnt target gene, c-myc, was decreased, whereas that of sfrp2, which is repressed by Wnt signaling, was increased with Wdr5 knockdown. Although only a minimal increase in apoptosis was observed, the antiapoptotic effect of Wnt signaling was also impaired with Wdr5 silencing. The expression of canonical Wnts was significantly decreased with Wdr5 knockdown, resulting in a decrease in nuclear β-catenin protein levels. Activation of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway did not overcome the effects of Wdr5 knockdown on the expression of Wnt target genes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated that Wdr5 is present on the Wnt1 promoter and on canonical Wnt response elements of the c-myc and Runx-2 promoters. These studies demonstrate that Wdr5 suppression interferes with the canonical Wnt signaling pathway at multiple stages and that optimal Wdr5 levels are required for induction of the osteoblast phenotype.
Mouse leukaemia, a dichotomy of virus neutralizing and cytotoxic antibodies

Mice exposed to subliminal doses of live, or to large doses of properly inactivated mouse leukaemia viruses, or cells, will develop antibodies. These antibodies can be detected by virus neutralization (1, 2, 3, 4) and cytotoxic tests (5, 6, 7), among other techniques. I t is not known how these serologic faculties are correlated. Studies in progress suggest tha t the virusneutralizing and cytotoxic antibodies are not identical. The following is a preliminary report on these studies. An immune serum was obtained from mice with adoptive immunity. The cell donors were low leukaemia Timco (Texas Inbred Mouse Company, Houston) S~dss mice vaccinated with photodynamieally inactivated Rauseher mouse leukaemia virus. The technique of photodynamic inactivation of this virus has recently been reported (4, 8). A cell-free spleen extract of leukaemic mice is mixed with high dilution of methylene blue and the mixture is transill~minated with visible light for 25 minutes a t 37 ~ C. Due to photooxidation, the virus loses its infectivity. In the experiment described here, 3 doses of such inactivated virus were injected intraperitoneally into young adult mice a t 3-week intervals. The second dose of the vaccine was given together with Freund's complete adjuvant. These mice produced both virus neutralizing and cytotoxic antibodies. The pooled and inactivated (56 ~ C for 20 minutes) serum neutralized more than 102 LDs0 of the Rauscher virus (8). In the cytotoxic test, 15 per cent of Rauscher leukaemic spleen cells responded with swelling and pinkish
Functional aspects of oxidative phosphorylation and electron transport in cardiac mitochondria of copper-deficient rats

Although dietary copper deficiency causes physiological, morphological, and biochemical abnormalities in cardiac mitochondria, the relationship observed between abnormalities of mitochondrial structure and function have been inconsistent in previous studies. The purpose of the present study was to re-evaluate the respiration rates of cardiac mitochondria from copper-deficient rats and to use several drugs that uncouple and inhibit mitochondrial respiration in order to clarify the mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunction found in several laboratories. Copper deficiency reduced state 4 and state 3 cardiac mitochondrial respiration rates with all substrates tested. However, neither the ratio of ADP/oxygen consumed nor the acceptor control index was affected by copper deficiency. Cardiac mitochondria of copper-deficient rats showed a resistance to respiratory blockade by oligomycin and an increased ability to hydrolyze ATP in the presence of oligomycin compared with mitochondria of copper-adequate rats. This suggests that copper deficiency affects the function of the cardiac mitochondrial ATP synthase.
Two-part marginal cost pricing in a pure fixed cost economy

Abstract Two-part marginal cost pricing is the pricing scheme where firms, in addition to the linear price equated to the marginal cost of production, charge non-uniform access fees to customers. Using a general equilibrium model with non-convex technologies, we examine the optimality and existence of this pricing scheme. First, it is shown that two-part marginal cost pricing is an optimal pricing regulation for monopolies when increasing returns to scale arise solely from the presence of fixed costs. Second, a sufficient condition for the existence of two-part marginal cost pricing equilibria is provided under the bounded losses condition. This generalizes the result of Brown et al.
Scaling of stacking fault energy and deformation temperature on strain hardening of FCC metals and alloys

The strain-hardening behaviour of metals and alloys are significantly affected by the dynamic recovery process, the rate of which can be increased by increases in deformation temperature and/or stacking fault energy (SFE). In the present work, the decay slope of the strain-hardening rate with flow stress as a function of both temperature and stacking fault energy is quantitatively evaluated for several face-centered cubic metals and alloys. A universal and quantitative approach to the scaling of the effects of temperature and stacking fault energy on strain-hardening behaviour is developed, which could be useful for predicting deformation behaviour or for material design.
Malignant Hypertension: Current Modes of Therapy

The story of human hypertension research really begins in 1836 as a by-product of Richard Bright's1investigations into the association of albuminuria and dropsy, which developed the broad concept of systemic vascular disease. In 1872, Gull and Sutton2formulated the concept that a vascular disease, which they called "arterio-capillary fibrosis," was present as the "primary and essential condition in the morbid state called chronic Bright's disease with contracted kidneys." A new era in the study of hypertension began in 1879 with Frederick Horatio Akbar Mahomed's3,4report on the first systematic investigation of blood pressure during life. He observed that elevation in blood pressure may either precede or follow renal disease, and he proposed the concept that "what is the cause in one case may be the result in another." That hypertension may occur independent of renal disease and may pursue a variable course was reported by three
Basics of Ternary Algebras and their underlying Nambu Brackets

Ternary algebras amount to closing systems of antisymmetrized trinomials of operators. The Filippov conditions (FI, which are not identities) for ternary algebras are contrasted to Bremner's identities dictated by associativity of operator products, and thus analogous to Jacobi identities. Maps of the known FI-compliant ternary algebras to underlying classical Nambu brackets are constructed, which then explain this compliance: FI-compliant ternary algebras are essentially classical Nambu brackets in disguise. In some cases involving infinite algebras, we show the classical limit may be obtained by a contraction of the quantal ternary algebra, and then explicitly realized through classical Nambu brackets. We illustrate this classical-contraction method on our Virasoro-Witt ternary algebra paradigm. The content of the talk is in the two references.
On the Analysis of the Aerodynamic Heating Problem

A complete analytical solution to the problem of aerodynamic heating is lacking in heat transfer textbooks, which are used for undergraduate and graduate education. There are many issues that are very important from a convective heat transfer point of view. In practice, poor analyses lead to poor design, thus faulty manufacturing. Since, over the years analysis has given way to numerical studies, the instructors do not take the necessary time to go through analytical details. Thus the students just use the results without any awareness of how to get them and the inherent limitations of the analytical solution. The only intent of this paper, therefore, is to present the detailed analytical study of the aerodynamic heating problem.
UN Conventions, Technology and Retaliation in the Fight Against Terrorism: An Econometric Evaluation

For rational terrorists, an increase in the cost of one mode of operation will induce substitutions into other modes. Co‐operative international efforts to thwart terrorism are hampered by incentives on the part of governments to renege. Our findings are consistent with these observations: the use of metal detectors reduced skyjackings but increased other kinds of hostage taking incidents. International agreements have had no discernible impacts on terrorism. After a surge in terrorist activity following the US bombing of Libya, there was a sustained reduction in resource‐using terrorist incidents. During this period, terrorists substituted into threat and hoax incidents; such incidents require few inputs. In the final assessment, the raid did not curb terrorism.
Lateral Structure Interaction With Seismic Waves

The interaction of lateral structural inertia forces with horizontal seismic motion is formulated in terms of an integral equation of the Volterra type. By means of normal mode theory the inertia force at the base of the structure is expressed as a function of the foundation motion. After the motion of the two-dimensional elastic half space resulting from a uniform horizontal foundation force varying arbitrarily with time over a specified interval on the boundary of the half space has been determined, the interaction equation is derived. Numerical studies for two free-field acceleration inputs are made for different ground stiffnesses and structural characteristics. The first of these free-field inputs is a ramp sine function and the second is the east-west ground acceleration recorded at Golden Gate Park during the 1957 San Francisco earthquake. The interaction effects for structures similar to nuclear power plants prove to be significant.
A modified procedure for PCR-based differential display and demonstration of use in plants for isolation of genes related to fruit ripening

We have modified and optimized PCR-based differential display for efficient identification and isolation of genes whose expression patterns are correlated with changes in growth, development, physiology, and/or environmental response. This protocol is general in nature and can be applied for analysis of virtually any plant tissues from which several μg of total RNA can be extracted. We report here the use of tomato fruit ripening as a model system in which to test and optimize differential display in plants. Specifically, mRNA from ripe, early breaker, mature green, and ethylene-treated mature green tomato fruit were examined to identify and distinguish non-ethylene-inducible from ethylene-inducible genes related to ripening. DNA-free total RNA was utilized as template for synthesis of first-strand complementary DNA using each of 12 possible 5′-T11 XY-3′ anchor primers (X=A, C, or G; Y=A, C, G, or T). PCR amplification products of the resulting cDNA populations were generated via use of random primers in combination with the corresponding anchor primer employed for cDNA synthesis. We demonstrate that degenerative anchor primers are useful for making representative cDNA populations, but are not effective for representative display-PCR. cDNA, resulting from degenerative anchor primer synthesis, yielded substantially fewer ripening-related display-PCR products when amplified with the same degenerative anchor primer employed in cDNA synthesis, versus the corresponding set of specific anchor primers. Amplification products specific to ripe fruit cDNA were isolated directly from display gels, reamplified, cloned, and confirmed for ripening-related gene expression via RNA gel-blot analysis.
Manifestation of altruism: Perceptions among counselling students in the United Kingdom

Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the applicability of a proposed model of the development of altruism, or unselfish caring for others, as perceived by counselling students in the UK. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight counsellors-in-training. The data analysis involved open coding, axial coding, and the development of a coding paradigm. Findings: The findings address the four factors (biological, cognitive, social learning, and religiosity/spirituality) proposed in the model. Additional themes included: (a) community development and sustainability, (b) altruism across the lifespan, and (c) the counselling profession. Implications: The findings suggest a relationship between altruism and counsellor success. This supports the integration of altruism within the counselling curriculum, as it relates to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Ethical Framework (2010). Furthermore, the findings support future research focused on altruism.
The endocrine and nutritional control of egg maturation in the fleshfly Sarcophaga bullata

Abstract In Sarcophaga vitellogenesis appears to be controlled by two endocrine organs, the corpus allatum and the neurosecretory cells of the pars intercerebralis. The corpus allatum exhibits cyclic volumetric changes during reproductive cycles, but the neurosecretory cells apparently do not change cyclically. Adult females allatectomized (CA−) at pupation matured eggs fully if fed liver, but only partially when fed an amino acid diet. Seventy per cent of females CA− at emergence deposited yolk whether fed liver or the amino acid diet. Yolk was not deposited after the neurosecretory cells were removed (NSC−). Reimplantation of neurosecretory cells into NSC− females stimulated vitellogenesis, whereas implanting corpora allata or other brain tissue did not. It is suggested that the neurosecretory cells produce the gonadotropic hormone in this species. Females require dietary amino acids or proteins for yolk deposition, and during egg maturation periods they ingest more ‘proteinaceous’ food than during gestational periods. The feeding patterns of CA− and NSC− females were not greatly altered compared to controls; the retarded rates or absence of egg maturation in operated females was apparently not due to altered nutrition.
Differences in DDTR residues in green alfalfa, hay, and cubes from the same source

During the period 1964-68, when DDT use in Arizona was declining because of high residues found in forage, alfalfa hay buyers and growers alike were having residue analyses conducted on their products by commercial laboratories. In the process some of the more curious alfalfa growers submitted 2 samples for analysis, one hay and the other hay cubes collected at the same time from the same field. The analytical results usually indicated substantial differences between the two. Consequently we have frequently been asked, why the difference?
Modes of Evolution in the Protease and Kringle Domains of the Plasminogen–Prothrombin Family

Phylogenetic analysis of protease domains of the vertebrate plasminogen-prothrombin family revealed two major subfamilies: (1) a subfamily containing macrophage-stimulating protein (MSP), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), plasminogen, and apolipoprotein(a) (APOA); and (2) a subfamily containing prothrombin, HGF activator, and plasminogen activators. There was evidence that these two subfamilies diverged prior to the divergence of amphibians and amniotes. The phylogeny indicated a close relationship of APOA from the European hedgehog, rhesus monkey, and human with plasminogen. Phylogenetic analysis of repeated kringle domains supported the hypothesis that APOA evolved independently in hedgehog and primates through numerous duplications of different kringle domains of the ancestral plasminogen. Phylogenies of kringle domains revealed two modes of evolution: (1) a conservative mode, whereby duplication of kringle domains occurred prior to cladogenesis and the same kringle structure has been maintained in different lineages (exemplified by plasminogen and prothrombin); and (2) a concerted mode, whereby kringle domains have duplicated since cladogenesis and thus orthologous relationships do not exist between kringles of different lineages (exemplified by APOA).
The strength of acidic activation domains correlates with their affinity for both transcriptional and non-transcriptional proteins

Activation domains (ADs) appear to work by making specific protein-protein contacts with the transcriptional machinery. However, ADs show no apparent sequence conservation, they can be functionally replaced by a number of random peptides and unrelated proteins, and their function does not depend on sustaining a complex tertiary structure. To gain a broader perspective on the nature of interactions between acidic ADs and several of their proposed targets, the in vivo strengths of viral, human, yeast, and artificial activation domains were determined under physiological conditions, and mutant ADs with increased in vivo potencies were selected. The affinities between ADs and proposed targets were determined in vitro and all interactions were found to be of low-level affinity with dissociation constants above 10(-7)M. However, in vivo potencies of all ADs correlated nearly perfectly with their affinities for transcriptional proteins. Surprisingly, the weak interactions of the different ADs with at least two non-transcriptional proteins show the same rank order of binding and AD mutants selected for increased in vivo strength also have increased affinities to non-transcriptional proteins. Based on these results, isolated acidic ADs can bind with relatively low-level specificity and affinity to many different proteins and the strength of these semi-specific interactions determine the strength of an AD. I suggest that ADs expose flexible hydrophobic elements in an aqueous environment to contact hydrophobic patches over short distances, shifting specificity of activators largely to the DNA colocalization of arrays of ADs and targets.
XPS study of reactively sputtered Ti-B-N hard coatings

Thin films (500 nm) of Ti–B–N have been produced by d.c. magnetron sputtering from a TiB2 target in various Ar+N2 gas mixtures. The atomic concentration of nitrogen in the films varies between 0 and 38 at.%. The ratio of boron to titanium in the films is fixed by the relative concentration of these two elements in the TiB2 sputtering target. Bonds of B–N, B–Ti, Ti–N and Ti–B are observed in the B 1s and the Ti 2p spectra. The change of shape observed in the N 1s spectra led to the conclusion that at low nitrogen concentration the nitrogen atoms are preferentially bonded with titanium atoms, in good agreement with thermodynamical data. By using quantitative information from the B 1s, Ti 2p and N 1s curve fittings, the formation of a film containing three separate phases (TiN, BN and TiB2) is discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Popular Epidemiology and “Fracking”: Citizens’ Concerns Regarding the Economic, Environmental, Health and Social Impacts of Unconventional Natural Gas Drilling Operations

Pennsylvania sits atop the Marcellus Shale, a reservoir of natural gas that was untapped until the 2004 introduction of unconventional natural gas drilling operations (UNGDO) in the state. Colloquially known as fracking, UNGDO is a controversial process that employs large volumes of water to fracture the shale and capture gas; it has become a multi-billion dollar industry in Pennsylvania. We analyzed letters to the editor of the most widely circulated local newspaper in the most heavily drilled county in Pennsylvania (Bradford County) in order to characterize residents' concerns and their involvement in popular epidemiology--the process by which citizens investigate risks associated with a perceived environmental threat. We reviewed 215 letters to the editor that referenced natural gas operations and were published by The Daily Review between January 1, 2008 and June 8, 2013. We used NVivo 10 to code and analyze letters and identify major themes. Nvivo is qualitative data analysis software (http://www.qsrinternational.com/products_nvivo.aspx) that allows researchers to code and analyze "unstructured" data, including text files of any type (e.g., interview transcripts, news articles, letters, archival materials) as well as photographs and videos. Nvivo can be used to classify, sort, query, comment on, and share data across a research group. Letters demonstrated citizen engagement in beginning and intermediate stages of lay epidemiology, as well as discord and stress regarding four main issues: socio-economic impacts, perceived threats to water, population growth and implications, and changes to the rural landscape. Residents called for stronger scientific evidence and a balance of economic development and health and environmental protections. Citizens' distress regarding UNGDO appeared to be exacerbated by a dearth of information to guide economic growth and health, environmental, and social concerns. This analysis proposes locally informed questions to guide future surveillance and research.
Elementary diffusive displacements of modifier cations in network structures

Abstract The molecular dynamic simulation technique was used to investigate cation mobilities in the network structures of alkali silicate liquid and glassy systems. The simulated diffusion trajectories were analyzed using a formalism devised for the description of noisy signals. The scaling behavior of the power spectra computed from diffusion trajectories reveal correlation effects and non-Brownian patterns in the cation motion. On the timescale of observation, i.e., up to 2.4 × 10−10 s, Brownian diffusion could not be observed, a circumstance that requires, for the quantitative description of particle mobilities, that correlated displacements be taken into account. The model for the description of short time diffusion proposed here allows one to distinguish between elementary jumps, frictional dissipation of phonon vibrational modes and slow structural relaxation. The influence of network rigidity, cation size and coordination, and thermal activation, on the mobility of the modifier cation and the correlation behavior in its motions is discussed.
Biological mechanisms underlying the aging process.

Several theories put forward to explain the biological mechanisms underlying the aging process are examined. The only ones which attack the problem from the point of view of basic biological mechanisms are the wear-and- tear theory and the somatic mutation theory. The finding that radiation accelerates the aging process is a potent tool for attacking the problem experimentally. Experiments with mice specifically designed to verify the wear- and-tear theory showed conclusively that stress per se does not contribute to aging, and no experimental evidence could be found to support the theory. On the other hand, a great deal of evidence now available indicates that mutations in somatic cells play a dominant role in aging. It is further shown that the organs having cells which frequently undergo cell division take part in the aging process very little, if at all. Organs having cells which seldom, if ever, divide have no opportunity to throw off either spontaneous or induced mutations, and it is these organs which are responsible for the aging of the animal. Spontaneous mutations build up at a rapid rate in these organs. A cell may continue to function normally long after it has suffered a deleterious mutation, and thismore » accounts for much of the delay in the expression of radiation damage. It is suggested that the mutation rates for somatic celis are very much higher than the rates for gametic cells, and that this circumstance insures the death of the individual and the survival of the species. (auth)« less
Radiolarian fluxes, stocks, and population residence times in surface waters of the central equatorial Pacific

Radiolarian settling fluxes and standing stocks from the central equatorial Pacific are more indicative of physical process than the living environment of the organism. Polycystine radiolaria were collected from plankton and in moored sediment traps along longitude 140°W during both warm and cold phases of the 1992 ENSO as part of the US JGOFS Equatorial Pacific program (EqPac). Highest shell fluxes occurred at the 5°N and 5°S trapsites, roughly the boundary between equatorial and subtropical environments. The sediment trap samples collected at these sites were composites of different living assemblages that live equatorward, poleward and, in some cases, directly within the overlying water. Stock to flux ratios indicate an average radiolarian residence time of around one week within the 5°N to 5°S equatorial band. The population residence time for Didymocyrtis tetrathalamus, which dominated the plankton during El Nino, is 3 weeks. Key indicator species of the cold tongue period, Tetrapyle octacantha (subtropical) and Lophophaena hispida (equatorial), have residence times slightly less than one week. This suggests environmental forcing can fundamentally alter community composition by limiting which species populations can be maintained under certain advective and mixing regimes. In this way, seasonal to interannual oscillations in the meridional current can control the composition of radiolarian communities. T. octacantha exhibited the highest stocks and fluxes of any radiolaria, which implies high sediment abundance of this species reflects high input versus preferential preservation. Correlations between fluxes of radiolaria and organic carbon indicate the radiolaria play a larger role in the plankton community within the gyre margin environment than at the lower latitude sites.
Suppressor cells generated from human peripheral mononuclear cells by stimulation with pokeweed mitogen

Abstract Stimulation of human mononuclear cells (MNC) with pokeweed mitogen (PWM) led to the generation of lymphocytes which, when added to secondary cultures of normal MNC, were able to suppress the appearance of PWM-induced plaque-forming cells. Suppression was effective in reducing the response of both autologous and allogeneic plaque-forming cells. In contrast to concanavalin A, which induces the generation of suppressor cells within 2 days, PWM-induced suppressor activity was induced only after culture for 6 days. Suppressive activity was also present in mitogen-induced supernatants, indicating that suppression may be mediated through a soluble factor. Induction of PWM-induced suppressor cells was abrogated by monocyte depletion. Mature PWM-induced suppressor cells for plaque-forming cells were radiosensitive. The initial MNC cultures containing active suppressor cells were refractory to restimulation with PWM in terms of subsequent plaque-forming cells. These studies suggest either that PWM directly activates suppressor cells or that polyclonal B-cell activation is normally accompanied by the sequential appearance of suppressor cells which modulate the immune response.
Conditions for Mechanical Self-Annealing in Motions of Elastic-Plastic Oscillators

In this study of the behavior for large times of a class of elastic-plastic oscillators under conservative loading, conditions on the relative stiffness of the oscillator and the loading agent are given that guarantee that permanent displacements arising during a motion automatically are removed in the limit of large times. When these conditions are not met, a sharp bound independent of initial data is obtained on the magnitude of the ultimate permanent displacement.
Decoding Transcriptional Programs Regulated by PPARs and LXRs in the Macrophage: Effects on Lipid Homeostasis, Inflammation, and Atherosclerosis

Macrophages play essential roles in immunity and homeostasis. As professional scavengers, macrophages phagocytose microbes and apoptotic and necrotic cells and take up modified lipoprotein particles. These functions require tightly regulated mechanisms for the processing and disposal of cellular lipids. Under pathological conditions, arterial wall macrophages become foam cells by accumulating large amounts of cholesterol, contributing to the development of atherosclerosis. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) and liver X receptors (LXRs) are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily of transcription factors that have emerged as key regulators of macrophage homeostasis. PPARs and LXRs control transcriptional programs involved in processes of lipid uptake and efflux, lipogenesis, and lipoprotein metabolism. In addition, PPARs and LXRs negatively regulate transcriptional programs involved in the development of inflammatory responses. This review summarizes recent efforts to decode the differential and overlapping roles of PPARs and LXRs in the context of macrophage lipid homeostasis and the control of inflammation.
The surface structure of a β-Al(Cu1−xFex)-(110) film formed on an AlCuFe quasicrystal substrate, analyzed by dynamical LEED

Abstract In order to understand the unique properties of quasicrystalline surfaces, it is paramount to compare quasicrystalline and crystalline surfaces of similar chemical composition. To that end, the fivefold surface of an AlCuFe quasicrystal substrate was transformed, by ion bombardment and annealing, into a film with the β-Al(Cu 1− x Fe x ) bulk structure. This is a CsCl structure with Fe and Cu atoms randomly occupying the body-center sites, and Al atoms at the corner sites. The film exposes a (110) free surface: its external structure was analyzed by dynamical low-energy electron diffraction in terms of atomic positions and layer-wise composition. The best fit between theory and experiment slightly favors a copper-rich composition in the surface layers ( x =0), although the sensitivity to the value of x is low, because Cu and Fe are very similar electron scatterers. The Al atoms in the surface layer buckle outward by 0.12±0.04 A relative to the Cu or Fe atoms in the same layer, while other relaxations from the bulk structure are small.
Aphid reproductive investment in response to mortality risks

Aphids are striking in their prodigious reproductive capacity and reliance on microbial endosymbionts, which provision their hosts with necessary amino acids and provide protection against parasites and heat stress. Perhaps as a result of this bacterial dependence, aphids have limited immune function that may leave them vulnerable to bacterial pathogens. An alternative, non-immunological response that may be available to infected aphids is to increase reproduction, thereby ameliorating fitness loss from infection. Such a response would reduce the need to mount a potentially energetically costly immune response, and would parallel that of other hosts that alter life-history traits when there is a risk of infection. Here we examined whether pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) respond to immunological challenges by increasing reproduction. As a comparison to the response to the internal cue of risk elicited by immunological challenge, we also exposed pea aphids to an external cue of risk - the aphid alarm pheromone (E)-β-farnesene (EBF), which is released in the presence of predators. For each challenge, we also examined whether the presence of symbionts modified the host response, as maintaining host fitness in the face of challenge would benefit both the host and its dependent bacteria. We found that aphids stabbed abdominally with a sterile needle had reduced fecundity relative to control aphids but that aphids stabbed with a needle bearing heat-killed bacteria had reproduction intermediate, and statistically indistinguishable, to the aphids stabbed with a sterile needle and the controls. Aphids with different species of facultative symbiotic bacteria had different reproductive patterns overall, but symbionts in general did not alter aphid reproduction in response to bacterial exposure. However, in response to exposure to alarm pheromone, aphids with Hamiltonella defensa or Serratia symbiotica symbiotic infections increased reproduction but those without a facultative symbiont or with Regiella insecticola did not. Overall, our results suggest that pea aphids are able to increase their reproduction in response to specific cues and that symbiont presence sometimes moderates this response. Such increased reproduction in response to risk of death increases the fitness of both aphids and their vertically transmitted symbionts, and since these organisms have high reproductive capacity, slight increases in reproduction could lead to a very large numerical advantage later in the season. Thus both symbiotic partners can benefit by increasing host fecundity under dangerous conditions.
Interfacial adhesion - Theory and experiment

Adhesion, the binding of different materials at an interface, is of general interest to many branches of technology, e.g., microelectronics, tribology, manufacturing, construction, etc. However, there is a lack of fundamental understanding of such diverse interfaces. In addition, experimental techniques generally have practical objectives, such as the achievement of sufficient strength to sustain mechanical or thermal effects and/or have the proper electronic properties. In addition, the theoretical description of binding at interfaces is quite limited, and a proper data base for such theoretical analysis does not exist. This presentation will review both experimental and theoretical aspects of adhesion in nonpolymer materials. The objective will be to delineate the critical parameters needed, governing adhesion testing along with an outline of testing objectives. A distinction will be made between practical and fundamental objectives. Examples are given where interfacial bonding may govern experimental consideration. The present status of theory is presented along with recommendations for future progress and needs.
Classroom Decision Making as a Function of Diagnostic Labels and Perceived Competence.

Special education teachers were asked to make some decisions about a 4th grade boy who was portrayed as learning disabled or emotionally handicapped and whose work samples were representative of one of two levels of competence (i.e., high or low) Classroom placement decisions and future performance predictions were foud to be a function of the child's perceived competence. The results were discussed with regard to implications within labeling research and mainstreaming.
SIR2 and aging – the exception that proves the rule

One of the holy grails of medicine is the possibility of an increase in lifespan without a decrease in vitality. However, the causes and processes of human aging are still unclear. One evolutionary theory is that in the post-reproductive stage of life, selective forces decline allowing many vital systems to deteriorate. This suggests that intervention will be difficult, if not impossible. However, molecular geneticists propose an aging process that is programmed (like other developmental processes) and regulated by single genes, meaning that intervention could be possible. Here, I discuss a way of reconciling these two views that could have major implications for healthcare.
A "turnkey" optoelectronic oscillator with low acceleration sensitivity

We present the experimental results on the acceleration sensitivity of the first fully packaged optoelectronic oscillator module operating at 11 GHz. We demonstrate a fiber delay line package technique that reduces the acceleration sensitivity of the module by 40 times. With measured acceleration sensitivity less than 1.5/spl times/10(-10)/g, this oscillator is believed to have the lowest acceleration sensitivity of any oscillator operating at 10 GHz and above.
Secure and efficient data replay in distributed eHealthcare information system

This paper presents a new distributed data storage architecture that facilitates secure and efficient data replay in eHelathcare information system. The new architecture uses secured iSCSI protocol and records the parity of every data change to the eHealthcare information system performed by authorized health care providers. The recording and transmission of encrypted parities are done in background without requirement of explicit involvement of users. Together with either backup data or real-time production data, one can easily replay Electronic Health Record (EHR) as it was at any point-in-time in the past using simple reverse parity computations. Because parities are substantially smaller than original data, the new system provides much higher online performance and fast encryption time. Experimental results on our prototype system have shown the clear advantages of the new system.
Hydraulic failure and tree dieback are associated with high wood density in a temperate forest under extreme drought

Catastrophic hydraulic failure will likely be an important mechanism contributing to large-scale tree dieback caused by increased frequency and intensity of droughts under global climate change. To compare the susceptibility of 22 temperate deciduous tree and shrub species to hydraulic failure during a record drought in the southeastern USA, we quantified leaf desiccation, native embolism, wood density, stomatal conductance and predawn and midday leaf water potential at four sites with varying drought intensities. At the two driest sites, there was widespread leaf wilting and desiccation, and most species exhibited predawn leaf water potentials of ≤3 MPa and >60% loss of xylem conductivity in branches. Although species with high wood density were more resistant to cavitation, they had higher levels of native embolism and greater canopy dieback than species with low wood density. This unexpected result can be explained by the failure of species with dense wood to avert a decline in water potential to dangerous levels during the drought. Leaf water potential was negatively correlated with wood density, and the relationship was strongest under conditions of severe water deficit. Species with low wood density avoided catastrophic embolism by relying on an avoidance strategy that involves partial drought deciduousness, higher sensitivity of stomata to leaf water potential and perhaps greater rooting depth. These species therefore maintained water potential at levels that ensured a greater margin of safety against embolism. These differences among species may mediate rapid shifts in species composition of temperate forests if droughts intensify due to climate change.
Progress Toward Development of All-Printed RFID Tags: Materials, Processes, and Devices

Printed electronics provides a promising potential pathway toward the realization of ultralow-cost RFID tags for item-level tracking of consumer goods. Here, we report on our progress in developing materials, processes, and devices for the realization of ultralow-cost printed RFID tags. Using printed nanoparticle patterns that are subsequently sintered at plastic-compatible temperatures, low-resistance interconnects and passive components have been realized. Simultaneously, printed transistors with mobilities >10/sup -1/ cm/sup 2//V-s have been realized using novel pentacene and oligothiophene precursors for pMOS and ZnO nanoparticles for nMOS. AC performance of these devices is adequate for 135-kHz RFID, though significant work remains to be done to achieve 13.56-MHz operation.
Educational needs for improving self-care in heart failure patients with diabetes.

PurposeTo explore the need for self-monitoring and self-care education in heart failure patients with diabetes (HF- DM patients) by describing cognitive and affective factors to provide guidance in...
Emittance control in linear colliders

The author discusses the generation and control of the emittance in a next-generation linear collider. Beams are extracted from a damping ring and compressed in length by the first bunch compressor. They are then accelerated in a preaccelerator linac up to an energy appropriate for injection into a high gradient linac. In many designs this preacceleration is followed by another bunch compression to reach a short bunch. After acceleration in the linac, the bunches are finally focused transversely to a small spot. Techniques of emittance generation and control which move alignment tolerances to the 100- mu m range are discussed. >
Accumulative feedback adaptation transmission rate in mobile ad-hoc networks

Mobile adhoc networks (MANET) are commonly used in a lot of applications in military and civilian domains. MANET are self-organized networks and depend on the ability of each node to optimize the transmission parameters to meet applications' bandwidth requirements. MANET nodes need to adapt their transmission parameters depending on the channel status and network dynamics like variation in node density, traffic, and mobility. In this paper, we will present an accumulative feedback adaptation transmission rate scheme (AFAT) that ensures MANET nodes will be able to maximize the transmission rates to ensure applications' bandwidth requirements are met. AFAT a d o pts a decentralized approach which involves communication of transmission rates between neighboring nodes. The knowledge of neighbor nodes' transmission rates allows an individual node to adjust the rates accordingly. AFAT is scalable because the overhead only involves exchange of transmission rates between neighboring nodes. Simulation results confirm that MANET nodes adopting the AFAT scheme will converge to a transmission rate that will meet applications' bandwidth requirements.
Galois Descent and Generic Splitting Fields

Let A be a central simple algebra over F split by a finite dimensional Galois extension field E/F with Galois group G. Then E ⊗ F A=End E V where V is a vector space over E of dimensionality the degree m of A/F. If σ∈G, σ determines the automorphism α σ of End E V that is the identity on A and is σ on E. The α σ form a group and it is clear that A=Inv α the set of fixed points of the α σ . Thus A can be obtained by “Galois descent” from the split central simple algebra End E V. Now α σ has the form \(\ell \rightsquigarrow u_{\sigma}\ell u_{\sigma}^{-1}\) where u σ is a σ-semilinear transformation of V and since u σ is determined up to a multiplier in E * we have u σ u τ =k σ,τ u σ τ for k σ,τ ∈E *. Then the k σ,τ constitute a factor set k from G to E *. The u σ can be used to define a transcendental extension field F m (k) of F in the following way. Let E(ξ)=E(ξ 1,…,ξ m ) where the ξ i are indeterminates and identify the E-subspace ΣE ξ i of E(ξ) with V=ΣEx i , (x 1,…,x m ) a base for V/E. Then the u σ , can be regarded as semilinear transformations of ΣE ξ i and u σ has a unique extension to an automorphism η(σ) of E(ξ)/F such that η(σ)∣E=σ. This restricts to an automorphism η(σ)0 of the subfield E(ξ)0 of rational functions that are homogeneous of degree 0 in the sense that they are quotients of homogeneous polynomials in the ξ’s of the same degree. We have η(σ)0 η(τ)0=η(σ τ)0 (but not η(σ)η(τ)=η(σ τ)). Hence we have the subfield F m (k)=Inv η(G)0 which we call a Brauer field of the central simple algebra A. The field F m (k) is a generic splitting field for A in a sense defined in Section 3.8. Such fields were first studied for quaternion algebras by Witt ([34]) and for arbitrary central simple algebras by Amitsur ([55] and [56]). Further results and a simplification of the theory are due to Roquette ([63] and [64]).
Guilt by Expressive Association: Political Profiling, Surveillance and the Privacy of Groups

Nov. 5, 2004 This article maintains that the First Amendment-based right of expressive association, interpreted most recently in Boy Scouts v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000), can protect political and religious associations from intrusive law enforcement investigations that are unrelated to criminal activity. In the wake of September 11, federal and local police departments have renewed their longstanding practice of conducting surveillance and compiling dossiers on groups holding non-mainstream political views. Recently, targeted groups have included mosques and other gatherings of Muslims, as well as those opposed to the war in Iraq. The article begins with an overview of political surveillance practices in the 20th Century. It next provides a summary of the right of expressive association as it has developed in caselaw. The following section proposes a standard for initiating investigations of First Amendment activity that balances the compelling state interest in investigating potential terrorist activity against the associational rights of political and religious groups. The outcome of this balancing process is a presumption that investigations cannot begin absent a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. Deployment of this standard would virtually eliminate the problem of intrusive investigations that disrupt organizations and serve no legitimate law enforcement purpose. The article illustrates its analysis with examples of application of the proposed standard. Unless restrictions are placed on the government's ability to conduct surveillance of First Amendment activity, such surveillance will increase. The article concludes that the proposed constitutional safeguards of protected expressive activity are necessary to avoid harming fragile associational rights in times of national crisis.
Molecular and Cellular Magnetic Resonance Contrast Agents

Certain chemical structures have magnetic properties that enable faster proton relaxation, allowing their use as MR contrast agents or magnetopharmaceuticals when found biocompatible. Larger complexes such as macromolecular or particulate contrast agents have recently emerged as a distinct subgroup of magnetic materials, suitable for contrast enhancement of the blood pool and specific tissues. This chapter describes the latest advances in chemical engineering and molecular/cellularbiology,which are producing an entirely new class of (targeted) MR contrast agents that can be used for high-resolution imaging of biologic processes at the molecular and cellular level.
Using Isoscapes to Model Probability Surfaces for Determining Geographic Origins

This chapter describes a modeling framework for using isoscapes to describe probable geographic origins of sampled material. The approach first inverts an isoscape model and then adds known or estimated components of variance to create a single continuous posterior probability density that describes the probability of any given location as the origin. The posterior density is defined analytically or by Monte Carlo methods, depending on the complexity of the variance structure. The model must be trained with material of known origin and can be used to determine spatially-explicit probability densities for geographic origin of individual samples. Individual densities can be used in aggregate to find spatial structure in the geographic origins for populations of samples. To illustrate the approach, I explore simulated data for a hypothetical example from wildlife forensics involving the determination of cross-seasonal connectivity in a migratory bird species.
Processing of Transparent Polymer Nanotube Composites via Heat, UV Radiation and Ionizing (gamma) Radiation using Ultrasonication and Solvent Dissolution

Poly (methyl methacrylate)/single walled carbon nanotube (PMMA/SWNT) composites were polymerized in the presence of carbon nanotubes via three methods: heat, uv radiation and ionizing radiation (gamma). Samples were solvent processed and cast into films. Thin films with varying degrees of transparency resulted from these composites. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) characterized glass transition temperatures. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS) quantified the transparency of composites. The dielectric constant (e’) was obtained from Dielectric Analysis (DEA) and correlated to the refractive index values using Maxwell’s Relationship. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) provided images of the polymer- nanotube composite.