cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modeling and analysis of dynamic behaviors of web image collections

Can we model the temporal evolution of topics in Web image collections? If so, can we exploit the understanding of dynamics to solve novel visual problems or improve recognition performance? These two challenging questions are the motivation for this work. We propose a nonparametric approach to modeling and analysis of topical evolution in image sets. A scalable and parallelizable sequential Monte Carlo based method is developed to construct the similarity network of a large-scale dataset that provides a base representation for wide ranges of dynamics analysis. In this paper, we provide several experimental results to support the usefulness of image dynamics with the datasets of 47 topics gathered from Flickr. First, we produce some interesting observations such as tracking of subtopic evolution and outbreak detection, which cannot be achieved with conventional image sets. Second, we also present the complementary benefits that the images can introduce over the associated text analysis. Finally, we show that the training using the temporal association significantly improves the recognition performance.
IL-18 Is Produced by Articular Chondrocytes and Induces Proinflammatory and Catabolic Responses

IL-18, a cytokine originally identified as IFN-gamma-inducing factor, is a member of the IL-1 family of proteins. Because IL-1alpha and IL-1beta are important mediators in the pathogenesis of arthritis, the present study addresses the expression of IL-18 and its role in regulating in articular chondrocytes. IL-18 mRNA was induced by IL-1beta in chondrocytes. Chondrocytes produced the IL-18 precursor and in response to IL-1 stimulation secreted the mature form of IL-18. Studies on IL-18 effects on chondrocytes showed that it inhibits TGF-beta-induced proliferation and enhances nitric oxide production. IL-18 stimulated the expression of several genes in normal human articular chondrocytes including inducible nitric oxide synthase, inducible cyclooxygenase, IL-6, and stromelysin. Gene expression was associated with the synthesis of the corresponding proteins. Treatment of normal human articular cartilage with IL-18 increased the release of glycosaminoglycans. These finding identify IL-18 as a cytokine that regulates chondrocyte responses and contributes to cartilage degradation.
Changing Policy Designs for "Deviants": Political Lessons from the Rhode Island "Right to Vote" Campaign*

We study the exclusion of a voluntary minority - felons - from the electoral process in the United States and its efforts to use majoritarian institutions to change the punitive policy designs that support exclusion. Specifically, we analyze a successful referendum campaign in Rhode Island to amend the state constitution to restore voting rights to felons on parole and probation, the first in the nation. We examine the origins of the campaign to repeal the state's disenfranchisement law and its effective community organizing among felons and advocacy in the legislature and among the electorate. We also identify the challenges and prospects of returning political rights to felons through majoritarian institutions, namely legislatures and referendums, in other states.
Gene Conversion (Recombination) Mediates Expansions of CTG·CAG Repeats

Genetic recombination is a robust mechanism for expanding CTG·CAG triplet repeats involved in the etiology of hereditary neurological diseases (Jakupciak, J. P., and Wells, R. D. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 23468–23479). This two-plasmid recombination system in Escherichia coli with derivatives of pUC19 and pACYC184 was used to investigate the effect of triplet repeat orientation on recombination and extent of expansions; tracts of 36, 50, 80, and 36, 100, and 175 repeats in length, respectively, in all possible permutations of length and in both orientations (relative to the unidirectional replication origins) revealed little or no effect of orientation of expansions. The extent of expansions was generally severalfold the length of the progenitor tract and frequently exceeded the combined length of the two tracts in the cotransformed plasmids. Expansions were much more frequent than deletions. Repeat tracts bearing two G-to-A interruptions (polymorphisms) within either 171- or 219-base pair tracts substantially reduced the expansions compared with uninterrupted repeat tracts of similar lengths. Gene conversion, rather than crossing over, was the recombination mechanism. Prior studies showed that DNA replication, repair, and tandem duplication also mediated genetic instabilities of the triplet repeat sequence. However, gene conversion (recombinational repair) is by far the most powerful expansion mechanism. Thus, we propose that gene conversion is the likely expansion mechanism for myotonic dystrophy, spinocerebellar ataxia type 8, and fragile X syndrome.
Comment on ``Observation of the $\nu=1$ quantum Hall effect in a strongly localized two-dimensional system''

In a recent Rapid Communication ``Observation of the $\nu=1$ quantum Hall effect in a strongly localized two-dimensional system,'' Shahar, Tsui, and Cunningham reported a disorder --- magnetic field phase diagram for the integer quantum Hall effect that appeared to differ qualitatively from theoretical predictions as well as from experimental results obtained by others. In this Comment, I suggest a possible origin of this difference.
Electrodeposition of Pb onto Pt(111) in aqueous chloride solutions . Studies by LEED and Auger spectroscopy

Abstract Studies by LEED and Auger spectroscopy of Pb electrodeposited from aqueous HCl solutions onto well-defined Pt(111) surfaces are reported. Adsorption of HCl from pure aqueous HCl solutions ( pH = 0 to 4) onto Pt(111) at electrode potentials from 0.4 to 0.8 volt (versus AgCl reference electrode) resulted in a stable (3×3) adlattice; however, below 0.4 volt adsorption was weak and desorption occurred readily under the influence of the electron beams employed for LEED or Auger spectroscopy. When Pb 2+ ions were present in the chloride solution, spontaneous (open circuit) electrodeposition of Pb occurred ( θ Pb = 0.05), altering the sizes, shapes, and intensities of beams in the (3×3) pattern. Electrodeposition of Pb under conditions of negative linear potential scan resulted in a series of ten peaks at potentials more positive than the peak for deposition of bulk Pb. LEED patterns obtained after emersion of the surface at various stages during the scan revealed that the electrodeposited layer was ordered and underwent a series of structural transitions with increasing Pb coverage. Comparison of the Auger signal for Pb with the coulometric charge for Pb deposition demonstrated that the Pb deposit was not stable at open circuit (as in emersion) when the packing density exceeded about θ Pb = 1. The Auger signal for Cl was not generally attenuated by deposition of Pb. indicating that Cl was present in the topmost layer of the surface at all Pb coverages.
You be the scientist with satellite imagery in EZ/EC communities: IEEE 2001 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium

You Be The Scientist With Satellite Imagery (YBTS) in Empowerment Zone (EZ) and Enterprise Community (EC) is designed as a student enrichment project for 6 targeted middle schools located in the communities of Portsmouth, Virginia and Halifax, North Carolina. The student enrichment component is designed to support extra curricular science activities structured to maximize awareness of and utilization of GOES satellite data to meet core Earth Science learning objectives and to develop marketable skills in the area of computer technology. The goals of the YBTS program include: 1) Providing teachers and students with an understanding of satellite imagery concepts; 2) Sharing with students information on careers critical to NASA's overall mission; and 3) Sharing with students and educators information related to NASA's earth science enterprise. Implementing this project is Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), at which the MU-SPIN Office of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has established a Network Resources and Training Site. ECSU brings satellite imagery to middle schools in its region in an effort to enhance the study of mathematics and science by under-represented minority student. The program is designed to aggressively strengthen the current Earth System Science outreach to EZ/EC middle schools by GSFC and the ECSU-NRTS. YBTS enhances the student's understanding of fundamental remote sensing concepts. These concepts include: air masses of the earth; atmospheric absorption; cloud types and movement; cloud height and temperature; cold fronts; the Coriolis effect; the diurnal cycle; fire detection; the Gulf Stream; high level clouds; the jet stream. and the intertropical convergence zone.
A high-throughput, in-vitro assay for Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal proteins

A high-throughput, in-vitro assay for Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal proteins designated as Cry was developed and evaluated for screening a large number of Cry protein variants produced by DNA shuffling. This automation-amenable assay exploits an insect cell line expressing a single receptor of Bt Cry proteins. The Cry toxin used to develop this assay is a variant of the Cry1Ab protein called IP1-88, which was produced previously by DNA shuffling. Cell mortality caused by the activated Bt Cry toxin was determined by chemical cell viability assay in 96/384-well microtiter plates utilizing CellTiter 96(®) obtained from Promega. A widely-accepted mode-of-action theory of certain Bt Cry proteins suggests that the activated toxin binds to one or more receptors and forms a pore through the insect gut epithelial cell apical membrane. A number of insect proteins such as cadherin-like protein (Cad), aminopeptidase-N (APN), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and ABC transporter (ABCC) have been identified as the receptors of Bt Cry toxins. In this study, Bt Cry toxin receptors Ostrinia nubilalis (European corn borer) cadherin-like protein (On-Cad) and aminopeptidase-N 1 and 3 (On-APN1, On-APN3) and Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm) cadherin-like protein (Sf-Cad) were cloned in an insect cell line, Sf21, and a mammalian cell line, Expi293F. It was observed by ligand blotting and immunofluorescence microscopy that trypsin-activated IP1-88 bound to On-Cad and On-APN1, but not Sf-Cad or On-APN3. In contrast, IP1-88 bound only to APN1 in BBMV (Brush Border Membrane Vesicles) prepared from the third and fourth-instar O. nubilalis larval midgut. The sensitivity of the recombinant cells to the toxin was then tested. IP1-88 showed no toxicity to non-recombinant Sf21 and Expi293F. Toxicity was observed only when the On-Cad gene was cloned and expressed. Sf-Cad and On-APN1 were not able to make those cells sensitive to the toxin. Since the expression of On-Cad alone was sufficient to make both insect and mammalian cells sensitive to the IP1-88 toxin, it is not likely that a secondary receptor, which may exist specifically in the Sf21 insect cell but not in the Expi293F cell, is involved in the cytotoxicity of IP1-88.
Individual carotenoid concentrations in adipose tissue and plasma as biomarkers of dietary intake

Background: Plasma and adipose tissue concentrations of carotenoids are thought to reflect short- and long-term intakes of carotenoids, respectively. The ability of adipose tissue carotenoid concentrations to reflect dietary intake in population studies is unknown. Objective: We examined the relation between intakes of the major dietary carotenoids and their concentrations in plasma and adipose tissue. Design: A blood sample and an adipose tissue biopsy sample were collected from 115 women and 344 men in Costa Rica after they had fasted overnight, and a dietary interview based on a 135-item food-frequency questionnaire was administered. After carotenoid intake was adjusted for total energy intake and plasma concentrations were adjusted for HDL-, LDL-, and VLDL-cholesterol concentrations, we calculated partial Spearman correlation coefficients that were adjusted for age, sex, smoking, and body mass index. Results: In women, the correlations (r) between intakes and concentrations of α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and lutein+zeaxanthin were 0.25, 0.29, 0.44, and 0.17, respectively (P <0.05 for r ≥0.19), in adipose tissue and 0.26, 0.13, 0.55, and 0.22 in plasma. In men, these values were 0.04. 0.07, 0.23, and 0.06 in adipose tissue and 0.24, 0.22, 0.44, and 0.20 in plasma. In women and men, correlations for lycopene were higher in plasma (r = 0.19 and 0.35, respectively) than in adipose tissue (r = 0.14 and 0.26). The relative abundance of each carotenoid in the diet was similar to its distribution in plasma but not in adipose tissue. Conclusion: The usefulness of adipose tissue and plasma carotenoids as biomarkers of intake is similar, although correlations for individual carotenoids vary substantially.
A Bayesian Approach to Detect Quantitative Trait Loci Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo

Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques are applied to simultaneously identify multiple quantitative trait loci (QTL) and the magnitude of their effects. Using a Bayesian approach a multi-locus model is fit to quantitative trait and molecular marker data, instead of fitting one locus at a time. The phenotypic trait is modeled as a linear function of the additive and dominance effects of the unknown QTL genotypes. Inference summaries for the locations of the QTL and their effects are derived from the corresponding marginal posterior densities obtained by integrating the likelihood, rather than by optimizing the joint likelihood surface. This is done using MCMC by treating the unknown QTL genotypes, and any missing marker genotypes, as augmented data and then by including these unknowns in the Markov chain cycle along with the unknown parameters. Parameter estimates are obtained as means of the corresponding marginal posterior densities. High posterior density regions of the marginal densities are obtained as confidence regions. We examine flowering time data from double haploid progeny of Brassica napus to illustrate the proposed method.
Depression and prospection.

Objectives Prospection, the mental representation of possible futures, is usually adaptive. When it goes awry, however, it disrupts emotion and motivation. A negative view of the future is typically seen as one symptom of depression, but we suggest that such negative prospection is the core causal element of depression. Here, we describe the empirical evidence supporting this framework, and we explore the implications for clinical interventions. Methods We integrate several literatures: Using the database PsycInfo, we retrieved empirical studies with the keywords prospection, prediction, expectation, pessimism, mental simulation, future-thinking, future-directed thinking, foresight, and/or mental time travel, in conjunction with depression, depressed, or depressive. Results Three kinds of faulty prospection, taken together, could drive depression: Poor generation of possible futures, poor evaluation of possible futures, and negative beliefs about the future. Depressed mood and poor functioning, in turn, may maintain faulty prospection and feed a vicious cycle. Future-oriented treatment strategies drawn from cognitive-behavioural therapy help to fix poor prospection, and they deserve to be developed further. Conclusions Prospection-based techniques may lead to transdiagnostic treatment strategies for depression and other disorders. Practitioner points Faulty prospection may be the core process underlying depression. Three general problems of prospection, taken together, could drive depression: Poor generation of possible futures, poor evaluation of possible futures, and negative beliefs about the future. Faulty prospection can be helped using future-oriented treatment strategies from cognitive-behavioural therapy, and basic research on prospection points to additional future-oriented clinical strategies for alleviating depression. More research is needed to determine whether prospection drives depression, and whether future-focused interventions are more effective than those focused on the past and present.
Macroscopic causality and physical region analyticity in $S$-matrix theory

An equivalence is proved between a certain macroscopic causality condition and the normal analytic structure of the physical-regionS-matrix. The normal analytic structure is this: each scattering function has physical-region singularities only on positive-α Landau surfaces and near these surfaces it is the limit from certain well-defined directions of a unique analytic function. The macroscopic causality condition is formulated in terms ofS-matrix concepts. It expresses the requirement that in an appropriate classical macroscopic limit all transition amplitudes fall off in the way indicated by classical estimates. This result gives, on the one hand, a physical basis for the basic physical-region analyticity properties of theS matrix. On the other hand, it gives, alternatively, a basis for a space-time description of phenomena starting from momentum space properties having noa priori space-time content.
Vascular spasm complicates continuous wave but not pulsed laser irradiation

Abstract Preliminary clinical experience with laser angioplasty has suggested that arterial spasm may complicate attempts to employ laser light to accomplish vascular recanalization. The present study was designed to investigate the role of energy profile on the development of arterial spasm during laser angioplasty. Laser irradiation was delivered percutaneously in vivo to New Zealand white rabbits and to Yucatan microswine with or without atherosclerotic lesions induced by a combination of balloon endothelial denudation and atherogenic diet. Continuous wave (CW) laser irradiation from an argon ion gas laser (wavelength 488 to 514 nm) was applied to 23 arteries, while 16 arteries were irradiated using a pulsed xenon chloride (308 nm) or xenon fluoride (351 nm) excimer laser. Arterial spasm, defined as >50% reduction in luminal diameter narrowing, complicated delivery of laser light to 17 (74%) of the 23 arteries irradiated with the CW argon laser. Spasm was consistently observed at powers >2 W, at cumulative exposures >200 seconds, and at total energy >200 joules. Spasm was typically diffuse (including the length of the vessel) and protracted (lasting up to 120 minutes). Intra-arterial nitroglycerin (up to 300 μg) produced only temporary and incomplete resolution of laser-induced spasm. In contrast, spasm was never observed in any of the 16 arteries in which laser angioplasty was performed using a pulsed laser (0.95 to 6.37 joules/cm 2 , 10 to 50 Hz, 48 to 370 seconds). Thus CW but not pulsed laser angioplasty may be complicated by arterial spasm. Such spasm presumably reflects the potent vasoconstrictor effects of heat generated during CW laser irradiation; the absence of spasm during pulsed laser irradiation presumably reflects less marked rise in tissue temperature typical of pulsed lasers.
The effects of exercise training programs on plasma concentrations of proenkephalin Peptide F and catecholamines.

Abstract To determine if exercise training alters the pattern and magnitude of plasma concentrations of proenkephalin Peptide F and epinephrine, plasma proenkephalin [107–140] Peptide Fir and catecholamines were examined pre-training (T-1), and after 4- (T-2), 8- (T-3), and 12-weeks (T-4) of training. 26 healthy men were matched and randomly assigned to one of three groups: heavy resistance strength training (Strength, n = 9), high intensity endurance training (Endurance, n = 8), or both training modalities combined (Combined, n = 9). Blood was collected using a syringe with a cannula inserted into a superficial arm vein with samples collected at rest, after each 7 min stage and 5 and 15 min into recovery. With training, all groups observed shifted plasma Peptide F responses to graded exercise, where significant increases were observed at lower exercise intensities. Increases in plasma epinephrine with exercise were observed in all groups. The Combined group saw increases at 25% at T-3 and for 50% at T-2, T-3, and T-4 which was higher than T-1. The Endurance group demonstrated increases for 50% at T-1, T-2, T-3 but not at T-4. The plasma epinephrine response to graded exercise was reduced in the Strength group. Increases in plasma norepinephrine above rest were observed starting at 50% . The Strength group demonstrated a significant reduction in norepinephrine observed at 100% at T-3 and T-4. Peptide F and catecholamines responses to graded exercise can be altered by different types of physical exercise training. Simultaneous high intensity training may produce adrenal medulla exhaustion when compared to single mode training.
Decoupling in (2+1)-dimensional QED?

Abstract In the regime of (2 + 1)-dimensional QED where the electromagnetic coupling e 2 4π is small compared to the electron mass, it is found that a quantum of magnetic flux localized at a point is observable through its interactions with low-energy electrons, since there is a point charge −e 2 bound to the flux. This may be viewed as a failure of decoupling: A unit point flux, although it has no direct influence on free electrons of any finite energy, nevertheless polarizes the electron vacuum so as to reveal itself.
The bacteriostatic action of captan: Alterations of RNA metabolism inE. coli

The growth ofE. coli in broth cultures was inhibited in a concentration dependent manner by the addition of captan. Treated cells showed no evidence of lysis and maintained a viable character. Following a single exposure to 500μM captan, cells exhibited a lag period of approximately six hr and then grew to maximum density. During the period of arrested growth, captan apparently inhibited the synthesis of RNA as measured by the incorporation of tritiated uridine into acid-insoluble material. This apparent inhibition was due in part to a captan mediated decrease in the uptake of uridine from the media into the soluble nucleotide pool. By means of RNA isolation, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and RNA quantitation, it was demonstrated that captan caused a selective loss of large (16 and 23 S) ribosomal RNA's. However, cellular concentrations of transfer RNA and 5S ribosomal RNA were unaffected by captan treatment.
Self-configurable digital controllers for smart structural systems using FPGAs

Smart structural systems require control systems, which are integrated into structures, to be small, light weight and power-efficient. Re-configurable digital signal processing using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) is now preferred over Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) for high performance applications. The FPGAs, due to their re-programmable and dynamic nature, are more suitable in developing hardware implementations because several configurations can be tested and experimented easily without any additional hardware cost. Being small, lightweight and power-efficient, FPGAs are one of the best platforms for building controllers for smart structures. Distributed Arithmetic is a widely used technique for hardware efficient implementations of inner product between a fixed and a variable data vectors. The computational requirements of smart structural controller match this type very well. The objective of the research is to design easily configurable, stand-alone smart controller, which could be used for real-time control applications. Self-configurable controllers are implemented and tested on a cantilevered beam.
Use of hypothermia and cardiopulmonary bypass in resection of aortic arch aneurysms.

Abstract Surgical correction of aortic arch aneurysms can be technically difficult and present hazards related to central nervous system and myocardial viability. Temporary circulatory arrest may be necessary, and in the age group in which most aneurysms are found, coronary and peripheral vascular disease increase the risk of ischemic damage. A patient is presented in whom hypothermia and cardiopulmonary bypass were utilized for resection of an aneurysm of the distal two-thirds of the aortic arch. Flow to the head through the right brachial and left common carotid arteries was regulated by monitoring pressure tracings from bilateral temporal artery catheters. Anoxic cardiac arrest for 70 minutes was well tolerated. No neurological deficit or cardiac dysfunction was evident postoperatively. Hypothermia with cardiopulmonary bypass is the approach of choice with aneurysms of the aortic arch. It affords the best protection for the central nervous system and myocardium.
Difference de-frocked: The triumph of tradition in Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s Paul et Virginie

Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s Paul et Virginie (1787) ostensibly exalts the wholesome values of a pastoral life style, that is to say, a life lived in harmony with nature, governed by virtue, and uncontaminated by the hierarchical divisiveness found in more materialist (European) environments. If one probes beneath the rhetorical surface, however, a vein of materialistic greed, hypocritical posturing, and class-conscious pretentiousness can be detected in the behavior and discourse of the primary protagonists. Indeed, as the novel comes to a close, the primary protagonists’ articulated attachment to rustic primitivism is revealed to be little other than a discursive pose that masks a desire for social distinctiveness, perhaps even cultural dominance. In this reading of the novel, the tragic tone of the narrative is attributed not to the heroine’s untimely death (viewed by the narrator as part of the natural order of things) but to its ultimate irrelevance. Although Virginie was briefly idolized in the immediate aftermath of her death—in a span of just twenty years, the physical trace of her existence and influence has all but disappeared; her legacy can be kept alive only in the oral discourse of an aging recluse. Although there is evidence to suggest that the “petite societe” hoped to transform their sector of l’ile de France into a parallel society wherein virtue and Christian subservience would serve as exemplary models for the other islanders, the community is destroyed from within by greed, self-interest and vanity, the very values the protagonists rhetorically condemned, but ultimately embraced.
THE INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN THE 1980s

The construction industry has expanded to an increasingly global scale of production. International spatial and temporal dimensions of this sector, including changes in international market share, rising global competition, and its strong linkages to the petroleum industry are explored. Focus then shifts to the geographic patterns engendered within the United States by foreign construction contracts with US firms, including the spatial distributions of total and foreign contracts, an input-output analysis of the economic impacts of foreign contracts, and an examination of contracts of three specific foreign petroleum-related projects. A research agenda for future work concludes the study.
Stable Longitudinal Oscillations in Anisotropic Plasma

The dispersion equation for longitudinal oscillations in an infinite collisionless anisotropic plasma in a uniform magnetic field is analyzed. For a plasma in which the electrons are isotropic and the ions are anisotropic with a velocity distribution given by a two-temperature Maxwellian, it is found that a purely growing mode (as in the case of Rayleigh-Taylor instability) with frequency of the order of the ion cyclotron frequency cannot exist so long as the ion temperature perpendicular to the field is larger than its temperature along the field. This is demonstrated by showing that the dispersion equation has no solutions under these conditions.
Hydronephrosis in children: Narrowing the differential diagnosis with ultrasound

Twenty patients with hydronephrosis in whom examination with ultrasound was helpful in defining the extent of dilation of the collecting system are presented. Thirteen patients had hydronephrosis due to obstruction at the ureteropelvic junction, six had obstruction of the ureterovesical junction from various causes, and one had massive bilateral vesicoureteral reflux. The diagnosis of high ureteral obstruction as opposed to obstruction or reflux at the ureterovesical junction was based on visualizing a dilated ureter in the later two groups.
Simulation of three-dimensional compressible viscous flow on the Illiac IV computer

Complicated three-dimensional viscous transonic flows about bodies at high angles of attack are solved on the Illiac IV computer. It is shown that certain approximate forms of the compressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations can be computed about realistic three-dimensional geometries with relative ease on the Illiac IV. The ease and efficiency with which this can be done depend on the approximations made in the basic equations, the choice of the numerical algorithm used for the solution, and the data-base system that controls the data management and identifies and manipulates the vectors. A pencil data-base system is found to be particularly suitable for the approximations and numerical method chosen to produce the results presented. In addition, some comparisons are made of computer predictions with experimental results for various lows about hemisphere-cylinders in both subsonic and supersonic free streams. The same viscous model and numerical model are used, showing good qualitative agreement in the location of separation lines and pressure distributions.
A method for calculating profit-neutral land set asides

Changes in land set asides and prices can be coordinated to ensure that the profits of agricultural producers do not change. This concept is made operational by estimating and inverting a profit function to obtain an indirect transformation function. Profit-neutral combinations of land set asides and prices for a subsector of Brazilian agriculture are calculated.
A peptide-based bifunctional chelating agent for 99mTc- and 186Re-labeling of monoclonal antibodies.

Background. The development of new bifunctional chelating agents for the labeling of monoclonal antibodies with radiometals is a desirable goal in the area of radioimmunodetection and radioimmunotherapy of cancer. The authors have developed a new N 3 S-ligand, N-(S-acetylmercaptoacetyl) (p-NCS)phenylalanylglycylglycine ethyl ester (MAIPGG) for technetium-99m ( 99m Tc) or rhenium-186 ( 186 Re) labeling of monoclonal antibody D612 reactive with human colon cancer. The biodistribution of 99m Tc/ 486 Re-MAIPGG-D612 conjugates was studied in nude mice bearing human colon cancer xenografts
Localized transmeningeal muscimol prevents neocortical seizures in rats and nonhuman primates: Therapeutic implications

Summary Purpose: To determine whether muscimol delivered epidurally or into the subarachnoid space can prevent and/or terminate acetylcholine (Ach)–induced focal neocortical seizures at concentrations not affecting behavior and background electroencephalography (EEG) activity. Methods: Rats (n = 12) and squirrel monkeys (n = 3) were chronically implanted with an epidural or subarachnoid drug delivery device, respectively, over the right frontal/parietal cortex, with adjacent EEG electrodes. Recordings were performed in behaving rats and chaired monkeys. Via the implants, either a control solution (artificial cerebrospinal fluid, ACSF) or muscimol (0.25–12.5 mm) was delivered locally as a “pretreatment,” followed by the similar delivery of a seizure-inducing concentration of Ach. In five additional rats, the quantities of food-pellets consumed during epidural ACSF and muscimol (2.5 mm) exposures were measured. In a last group of four rats, muscimol (0.8–2.5 mm) was delivered epidurally during the ongoing, Ach-induced EEG seizure. Results: In contrast to ACSF pretreatments, epidural muscimol pretreatment in rats completely prevented the seizures at and above 2.5 mm. In the monkeys, subarachnoid muscimol pretreatments at 2.5 mm completely prevented the focal-seizure–inducing effect of Ach, whereas similar deliveries of ACSF did not affect the seizures. Furthermore, 2.5 mm epidural muscimol left the eating behavior of rats intact and caused only slight changes in the EEG power spectra. Finally, muscimol delivery during Ach-induced EEG seizures terminated the seizure activity within 1–3 min. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that muscimol is a viable candidate for the transmeningeal pharmacotherapy of intractable focal epilepsy.
Creb1-Mecp2-mCpG Complex Transactivates Postnatal Murine Neuronal Glucose Transporter Isoform 3 Expression

The murine neuronal facilitative glucose transporter isoform 3 (Glut3) is developmentally regulated, peaking in expression at postnatal day (PN)14. In the present study, we characterized a canonical CpG island spanning the 5'-flanking region of the glut3 gene. Methylation-specific PCR and bisulfite sequencing identified methylation of this CpG ((m)CpG) island of the glut3 gene, frequency of methylation increasing 2.5-fold with a 1.6-fold increase in DNA methyl transferase 3a concentrations noted with advancing postnatal age (PN14 vs PN3). 5'-flanking region of glut3-luciferase reporter transient transfection in HT22 hippocampal neurons demonstrated that (m)CpGs inhibit glut3 transcription. Contrary to this biological function, glut3 expression rises synchronously with (m)CpGs in PN14 vs PN3 neurons. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (IP) revealed that methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (Mecp2) bound the glut3-(m)CpGs. Depending on association with specific coregulators, Mecp2, a dual regulator of gene transcription, may repress or activate a downstream gene. Sequential chromatin IP uncovered the glut3-(m)CpGs to bind Mecp2 exponentially upon recruitment of Creb1 rather than histone deacetylase 1. Co-IP and coimmunolocalization confirmed that Creb1 associated with Mecp2 and cotransfection with glut3-(m)CpG in HT22 cells enhanced glut3 transcription. Separate 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine pretreatment or in combination with trichostatin A reduced (m)CpG and specific small interference RNAs targeting Mecp2 and Creb1 separately or together depleting Mecp2 and/or Creb1 binding of glut3-(m)CpGs reduced glut3 expression in HT22 cells. We conclude that Glut3 is a methylation-sensitive neuronal gene that recruits Mecp2. Recruitment of Creb1-Mecp2 by glut3-(m)CpG contributes towards transactivation, formulating an escape from (m)CpG-induced gene suppression, and thereby promoting developmental neuronal glut3 gene transcription and expression.
Colonial Encounters in Late-Victorian England: Pandita Ramabai at Cheltenham and Wantage 1883-6

Scrutinizing the nature, dynamics and political ramifications of the colonial encounter is a characteristic preoccupation of postcolonial studies. Feminists committed to rematerializing encounters between English women and the British Empire have concentrated on examining them either in distant colonial locales like India, Nigeria or Egypt (Callaway,1987; Chaudhuri and Strobel,1992) where English women encountered indigenous peoples in their capacity as officers' wives, missionaries, social reformers and adventurers or in Victorian women's 'domestic' literary production where, as in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, the figure of an ambiguously racialized feminine Other (Bertha Mason) helps to structure the novel and, with it, the English heroine's fate (Spivak,1989; Azim 1993; Sharpe, 1993). Examining the historical variety of colonial encounters among women is crucial political work if we are to appreciate, among other things, the historically situated relationships of Western women to imperial ideologies and practices. As Jenny Sharpe has written with regard to British India, understanding the ways in which 'Englishwomen's bid for gender power passes through a colonial hierarchy of race' is a precondition for such critical appreciation (Sharpe,1993: 12). Pandita Ramabai's time in England illustrates how Victorian women's relationships to colonial power were staged in imperial culture at home in Britain, and, most significantly, how they could be contested by an Indian woman at the very heart of the empire. Ramabai (1858-1922) was a Marathi educator and social reformer who came to England in 1883 seeking a medical education through the good offices of sympathetic English women. Her initial contacts were with the Anglican Sisters of St Mary the Virgin at Wantage, whose connexions with
Long-term morbidity after fetal endoscopic surgery for severe twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

Abstract Background/Purpose Severe twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) leads to 80% to 100% dual mortality. Endoscopic laser coagulation of connecting vessels improves outcome to 80% survival of at least 1 twin. There is limited long-term follow-up of surviving TTTS patients. The aim of this study was to analyze gestational age-stratified, long-term morbidity in these patients. Methods A retrospective case-control study of TTTS surviving patients (38 patients, 72% follow-up rate) from one center. Perinatal and pediatric records were reviewed, and outcomes were compared with published reports and gestational age-matched controls. Results Forty percent (15/38) had at least 1 major sequela, all but 6 of which were fully resolved at a median follow-up of 4.4 years. There were no permanent cardiac, genitourinary, renal, or respiratory sequelae. All major complications were in patients born Conclusions The long-term morbidity of monochorionic twins after fetal laser surgery for severe TTTS is 13%. At a median follow-up of more than 4 years, these children fare no worse than gestational age-matched, non-operated twins and singletons. The degree of prematurity at birth is the best predictor of temporary or permanent sequela in this group of patients.
Referrals for tall stature in children: a 25-year personal experience.

Aim: Extreme tall stature may lead to a variety of concerns in tall children and their parents, leading to requests for treatment to reduce final height in some children. This study reviews referrals for tall stature to a single pediatric endocrinologist and results of treatment over 25 years from 1980 to 2004. Methods: Diagnoses, heights, target heights and estimated final heights at presentation, and final heights and complications in treated patients, were examined by retrospective chart review. Results: Of 345 referrals, 244 (71%) were girls and 101 (29%) were boys. Of the 68 (19.7%) treated, 53 (78%) were girls and 15 (22%) were boys. Most children had familial tall stature. Treated children were tall for their already tall families. Treatment reduced final heights compared with estimated final heights by (mean +/− standard error of the mean) 4.2 +/− 0.5 cm (P = 0.001) in girls and 5.1 +/− 0.8 cm (P < 0.001) in boys. Minor complications occurred in 27 (51%) girls, including 5 (9.4%) who stopped treatment because of weight gain, and 5 (33%) of boys. In more recent years, girls (but not boys) presented less frequently, were taller at presentation and opted for treatment less often, and at taller estimated final heights than in the earlier years. Conclusions: Any benefits of high-dose sex steroid treatment of tall children in terms of reduced final height and improved self-image are at the expense of complications in many. Fewer tall girls being referred and treated probably reflects altered attitudes to tallness in society. Such treatment should seldom – if ever – be used in the future.
Contributions of C3H6O+. ions with the oxygen on the middle carbon to gas phase ion chemistry

The numerous ways in which studies of C3H6O+ċ ions with the oxygen on the second carbon have added to our knowledge of gas phase ion chemistry are reviewed. The enol form of this ion (1) first attracted interest during early investigations of the mechanism of the McLafferty Rearrangement and later in characterizing the double McLafferty Rearrangement. Next, it was found that 1 isomerizes to the higher energy acetone ion (2). This discovery sparked studies of the relative stabilities of ionized and neutral enol and ketone species. It also led to the discovery that 12 surmounts a substantial barrier, and that 2 dissociates faster than the excess energy deposited in it by the isomerization can become randomly distributed; i.e., dissociation following 12 is nonergodic. This fact is manifested by a more abundant loss of the methyl formed by isomerization and a greater associated translational energy release. Propene oxide and methyl vinyl ether ions also appear to ionize to 2 and to dissociate nonergodically. Methane is eliminated from 2 through a methyl–acetyl ion complex. Characterization of this reaction by photoionization mass spectrometry, ab initio theory, and RRKM calculations helped to establish that complex-mediated alkane eliminations are generally confined to a region just above threshold. At higher energies, because attractions between ions and nonpolar neutrals are weak, simple dissociation is too fast for complex-mediated H-transfer to compete with it. Studies of the collision-induced dissociations of 2 demonstrate that the first electronically excited A state of 2 is very long-lived and efficiently releases its energy into translational energy when the ion collides with a neutral at low impact energies. Finally, ion–molecule reactions of 2 and acetone-containing ion clusters in the gas phase are described. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 19: 38–61, 2000
How effective is syndromic management of STDs?: A review of current studies.

Background Studies of the accuracy of syndromic management have demonstrated widely varying results depending upon gender, location of infection, risk group, organisms, among other factors. Goal To review current knowledge about syndromic management of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and to make recommendations about the strengths and weaknesses of different syndromic management algorithms. Study design The authors identified articles and abstracts about the syndromic management of STDs. Evaluation of the effectiveness of algorithms for urethral discharge, genital ulcer disease, and vaginal discharge was based primarily on published sensitivity and specificity data. Results Overall, algorithms for the diagnosis and treatment of urethral discharge and genital ulcer disease in men had high sensitivities or cure rates (urethral discharge, 87-99%; genital ulcer disease, 68-98%). The sensitivities for the algorithms for vaginal discharge ranged from 73% to 93% among women presenting with symptoms of vaginal discharge, and from 29% to 86% among women not presenting with symptoms. Vaginal discharge was not found to be an effective indicator of cervical infection and, therefore, is not an independently effective screening tool to detect women with cervical infection, especially in low-risk or asymptomatic populations. Incorporating risk scores can improve the accuracy of algorithms to detect cervical infection. Conclusions Algorithms for urethral discharge and genital ulcer disease can be effective in STDs. The current algorithms for vaginal discharge are not highly effective in detecting gonorrhea and chlamydia in women; risk scores can improve their efficacy, but must be tailored to reflect community risks. Without attention to the qualitative aspects of STD syndromic management, these methods will likely have even less accuracy than the studies reviewed above. There remains an urgent need for the development of an affordable, rapid, and effective diagnostic technique that will improve STD detection in resource-poor settings.
Persistent photoluminescence in conjugated polymers

We report transient photoluminescence (PL) measurements in a conjugated polymer over more than six decades in time and intensity. Long-lived luminescence by the singlet exciton arising from charge photogeneration and subsequent recombination represents a significant fraction of the total emission. Comparison between neat films and dilute films in polystyrene illustrates the importance of interchain charge separation in the photophysics of these materials. The data permit quantitative estimates of polaron pair and excimer formation.
METABOLISM AND INTRACELLULAR DISTRIBUTION OF A FLUORESCENT ANALOGUE OF PHOSPHATIDIC ACID IN CULTURED FIBROBLASTS

We have shown that a fluorescent compound, C6-NBD-PA, behaves as an analogue for phosphatidic acid, an important intermediate in glycerolipid biosynthesis. This derivative is preferentially transferred from phospholipid vesicles to cultured Chinese hamster fibroblasts at 2 degrees C, while the C6-NBD-PA-derived fluorescence is localized at the nuclear membrane, endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria. Extraction and analysis of the fluorescent lipids associated with the cells after treatment with vesicles at 2 degrees C or 37 degrees C revealed that a large fraction of the fluorescent phosphatidic acid is converted to fluorescent diglyceride, phosphatidylcholine, and triglyceride. Although we do not yet know how accurately the metabolism and intracellular distribution of C6-NBD-PA and its metabolites reflect those of endogenous phosphatidic acid, it is encouraging that this fluorescent analogue is apparently metabolized through the diglyceride pathway to give fluorescent analogues of diglyceride, triglyceride, and phosphatidylcholine. This metabolism suggests that the presence of the fluorescent group on the acyl chain of the phosphatidic acid analogue does not inhibit the enzymes involved in phosphatidic acid metabolism. We conclude that fluorescent lipid analogues such as C6-NBD-PA may be useful in correlating biochemical studies of lipid metabolism with studies of the intracellular localization of lipid metabolites by fluorescence microscopy.
Ground-Based Observational Support for Spacecraft Exploration of the Outer Planets

This report presents both a retrospective of ground-based support for spacecraft missions to the outer solar system and a perspective of support for future missions. Past support is reviewed in a series of case studies involving the author. The most basic support is essential, providing the mission with information without which the planned science would not have been accomplished. Another is critical, without which science would have been returned, but missing a key element in its understanding. Some observations are enabling by accomplishing one aspect of an experiment which would otherwise not have been possible. Other observations provide a perspective of the planet as a whole which is not available to instruments with narrow fields of view and limited spatial coverage, sometimes motivating a re-prioritizing of experiment objectives. Ground-based support is also capable of providing spectral coverage not present in the complement of spacecraft instruments. Earth-based observations also have the capability of filling in gaps of spacecraft coverage of atmospheric phenomena, as well as providing surveillance of longer-term behavior than the coverage available to the mission. Future missions benefiting from ground-based support would include the Juno mission to Jupiter in the next decade, a flagship-class mission to the Jupiter or to the Saturn systems currently under consideration, and possible intermediate-class missions which might be proposed in NASA’s New Frontiers category. One of the principal benefits of future 30 m-class giant telescopes would be to improve the spatial resolution of maps of temperature and composition which are derived from observations of thermal emission at mid-infrared and longer wavelengths. In many situations, this spatial resolution is competitive with those of the relevant instruments on the spacecraft themselves.
Determination of Two Structural Forms of Catalytic Bridging Ligand in Zinc−Phosphotriesterase by Molecular Dynamics Simulation and Quantum Chemical Calculation

Although a three-dimensional X-ray crystal structure of zinc-substituted phosphotriesterase was recently reported, it is uncertain whether a critical bridging ligand in the active site is a water m...