cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Opening of the myosin nucleotide triphosphate binding domain during the ATPase cycle.

A series of ATP analogs, in which moieties of various sizes have been added to the gamma-phosphorus of ATP, bind to the active site of myosin and to the actomyosin complex in myofibrils and in chemically skinned fibers. The affinity of the analogs for the active site shows only a slight dependence on the size of the added moiety. Addition of even our smallest group (CH3) reduced the binding affinity of ATPgamma-CH3 for S1 to 40 microM, a factor of 10(5) less than observed for ATP. Computer molecular docking of ATP-gammaCH3 into the myosin-ADP.BeF3 crystal structure of Dictyostelium discoideum indicates no steric interference to prevent binding. This suggests that the maintenance of charge at the gamma-phosphate is crucial for tight nucleotide binding. Addition of larger groups, (1) an EPR probe (ATP-gammaSL) or (2) ADP (i.e., P1, P5-diadenosine pentaphosphate, AP5A), reduced the affinity by only approximately a factor of 10 over that of ATP-gammaCH3. In the crystal structure of S1 complexed with nucleotides, the phosphates are buried within a protein structure called "the phosphate tube". Both the bulk of the modifying groups and the lack of dependence on the size of the group are incompatible with threading of the phosphates down the Pi-tube, showing that the tube must open. Similar domain movements have been found in other proteins including members of the G-protein superfamily, a family that has structural homologies to myosin.
Catastrophe and (super-)conformal discrete series

Abstract The Landau-Ginzburg potentials for the D n and E n modular invariant solutions of the discrete series of the conformal and N =1 superconformal field theories are constructed, in extension of the work of Zamolodchikov on the A n solutions. Two relevant primary fields are identified as basic scalar operators and their composites are shown to give the rest of the relevant operators by using the operator product algebra of the conformal field theory. Their composites also give descendants of the two basic fields, and this allows the identifications of the equations of motion and the Landau-Ginzburg potentials. The potentials all resemble the type D n and E n catastrophes.
Loss of paraoxon in aqueous acetonitrile extractions.

There are many methods available for the extraction.of parathion from diverse substrates for residue analysis, among which is a method wherein the pesticide is partitioned from an acetonit r i l e extract after i t has been diluted with water. Finley and co-workers (FINLEY and ROGILLIO, 1969, FINLEY, et al . , 1974) have reported the extraction of cloth for parathion u--sin-gthis technique. Similarly GUNTHER, et al. (1973, 1974) have extracted leaf homogenates by this general procedure for pesticide residue analysis. I t is easy to assume that this procedure works as well for the oxygen analog, paraoxon, as i t does for the parent parathion. However, this is not the case and tests with this method yield paraoxon recoveries as low as 13%.
Quinolinate-induced injury is enhanced in developing rat brain

Quinolinate, a metabolite of tryptophan in the kynurenine pathway, has been hypothesized to play a role in neuronal injury through activation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. We evaluated the ontogeny and neuroprotective pharmacology of quinolinate-induced injury in the immature rat brain. Unilateral striatal microinjections of quinolinate (150 nmol/0.5 microliter) were performed at seven ages between postnatal day (PND) 1 and 90. Injury was assessed by comparing the cross-sectional areas of the cerebral hemispheres ipsilateral and contralateral to the injection site in Nissl-stained coronal sections. The susceptibility to quinolinate-induced injury was enhanced in the immature brain with peak toxicity at PND 7 when the ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere was reduced by 16.1 +/- 3.2%. In a dose-response comparison with NMDA-induced injury at PND 7, quinolinate injury was directly related to the dose injected (r2 = 0.73, P < 0.0001), but the neurotoxicity of quinolinate was 20-times less potent than NMDA. In the PND 7 rat brain, quinolinate-induced injury was completely blocked by MK-801 (1 mg/kg, i.p.) and CGS-19755 (10 mg/kg). Dextromethorphan (20 mg/kg) and dextrorphan (20 mg/kg) were partially protective. Ifenprodil, carbamazepine, and nifedipine did not significantly protect against quinolinate-induced injury. Finally, pretreatment with MK-801 (1 mg/kg) 24 h before intracerebral injection of quinolinate resulted in greater injury compared to controls. The findings indicate that quinolinate-induced injury is enhanced in the immature brain in a pattern that is similar to NMDA-induced injury.
Divalent carbon insertions into Group IV hydrides and halides

ABSTRACT A summary, dealing in large part with the author's own work, is presented of reactions in which a methylene bridge (CH2, CHX, CX2, etc.) is introduced into a Group IV element-to-other element covalent bond In these reactions M is silicon, germanium, tin or lead; Y can be hydrogen, halogen, carbon, mercury and, in the case of tin, another tin. The reagents which effect such methylenations include diazoalkanes, carbenes and ‘carbenoid’ organometallics. Emphasis is placed on carbenes generated via phenyl(trihalomethyl)mercury compounds and on diazomethane. The scope and mechanism of these reactions are discussed.
High performance learning by modified error backpropagation

In using a neural network for an application, data representation and network structure are critical to performance. While most improvements to networks focus on these aspects, we have found that modification of the error function based on current performance can result in significant advantages. We consider here a multilayered network trained by the backpropagation error reduction rule. We also consider a specific task, namely that of direct recognition of handwriting patterns, without any feature extraction to optimise the representation used. We show that the relaxation of the definition of error improves the final performance and accelerates learning. Since the application used in this study has generic qualities, we believe that the results of this numerical experiment are pertinent to a wide class of applications.
Stability of apomorphine in solutions containing ascorbic acid and bisulfite and effects of antioxidants on apomorphine-induced cage climbing and hypothermia in mice

Ascorbic acid (100 mg/ml) and sodium bisulfite (0.5 and 20 mg/ml) prevented more than 10% oxidation of apomorphine hydrochloride in water maintained at room temperature over 1–3 days. Refrigeration at 5° prevented oxidation of apomorphine hydrochloride in aqueous solutions for 1 week. Neither ascorbic acid nor sodium bisulfite affected murine stereotyped cage climbing or hypothermia induced by apomorphine.
The synthesis of dimethoxy[1]benzothieno[2,3-c]quinolines

A series of dimethoxy[1]benzothieno[2,3-c]quinolines have been prepared by photocyclization of the appropriate N-phenyl-3-chlorobenzo[b]thiophene-2-carboxamides. The lactams obtained were converted into the thiolactams and their S-methyl derivatives. The lactams were also converted into the corresponding chloro derivatives which were catalytically dechlorinated into the dimethoxy[1]benzothieno[2,3-c]quinolines. The latter compounds were converted into the N-methyl quaternary salts.
Hematopoiesis on cellulose ester membranes (cem). IX. Enrichment of membranes with adherent layers from long‐term marrow culture from normal or drug‐treated mice (hematopoietic microenvironment Study II)

Cellulose ester membranes (Millipore©) or polytetrafluoroethylene (Mitex©) membranes were coated with adherent layers taken from Dexter-type long-term cultures, 4--5, 8 or 12 weeks after initiation of culture. The cultures were established with marrow taken from untreated mice or, in some cases, from mice treated with a single lethal dose (LD10) of carmustine (BCNU) or cyclophosphamide. In the studies using untreated mice, the cultures went for 8 or 12 weeks and in the drug studies, for 4--5 weeks. The 8 and 12 week cultures were reseeded at 4 weeks. The membranes were implanted into the peritoneal cavities of mice for 3--12 months after which they were removed, fixed, sectioned and stained for histologic study. After 6 months of implantation, about 40% of the membranes coated with cells from non-drug-treated mice and 60% of the membranes coated with cells from drug-treated mice contained hematopoietic elements; often there were foci of trilineal hematopoiesis. Hematopoiesis never occurred without bone formation, but the reverse was not true. Membranes coated with adherent layers established from marrow of mice treated with cyclophosphamide or BCNU showed two main characteristics: 1) they supported hematopoiesis normally, and 2) the regeneration of stroma and hematopoiesis occurred earlier than in membranes coated with stroma derived from normal mice, perhaps because the cells from the drug-treated mice spent a shorter time in culture. In vitro culture may damage cells required to condition the membrane for hematopoiesis.
Hybrid multidirectional test method to evaluate spinal adjacent-level effects.

Abstract Background Several clinical studies have documented long-term adjacent-level effects of spinal fusion, due to stress concentration and motion loss at the fused segment. Non-fusion motion preservation devices are designed to eliminate or slow down such adverse effects. Therefore, appropriate biomechanical evaluation of the adjacent-level effects in spine is important and timely. Although many biomechanical studies are available and have provided some understanding of the adjacent-level effects, results have large variation and are conflicting, mostly due to the use of inappropriate and ill-defined methods. A new test method especially designed to study spinal adjacent-level effects is needed. Methods The proposed Hybrid method uses unconstrained pure moment to provide rotation-input for multi-directional testing. The new method has four steps: (1) Intact spine specimen with entire mobile region is used. The specimen is prepared to measure various biomechanical parameters, e.g., disc pressures, ligament strains, and facet loads. (2) Appropriate unconstrained pure moment is applied to the intact specimen and total range of motion is determined. (3) Unconstrained pure moment is applied to the spinal construct (specimen with an implant) until the total range of motion of the construct equals that of the intact. (4) Statistical comparison of the biomechanical parameters between the construct and intact quantifies the adjacent-level effects. Findings The uniqueness of the proposed method, to study the adjacent level effects due to fusion and non-fusion devices, is that it applies the needed rotation-input to the spine specimen, using available methodology with minimal modification. Interpretation Previous studies have lacked appropriate and well-defined methodologies to evaluate spinal adjacent-level effects. The proposed method uses well-known methodology and yields high quality, and laboratory-independent results for the fusion and non-fusion devices.
Incorporating Contemporaneous Newspaper Articles About the Holocaust into a Study of the Holocaust

(1998). Incorporating Contemporaneous Newspaper Articles About the Holocaust into a Study of the Holocaust. The Reference Librarian: Vol. 29, No. 61-62, pp. 59-81.
Asymptomatic Follicular Lymphoma of the Prostate Discovered by Abnormal Digital Rectal Examination

Prostatic lymphoma is rare, with fewer than 100 reported cases. Patients initially present with local and generalized symptoms, with obstructive uropathy being the most common clinical presentation.1–3 We report on an asymptomatic male who had an abnormal prostate on routine digital examination and was subsequently diagnosed with follicular lymphoma. CASE REPORT An asymptomatic 69-year-old black male had a diffusely enlarged, hard and fixed prostate on routine digital rectal examination, suggesting a malignant process. The remaining physical examination was unremarkable and without lymphadenopathy. Family history was noncontributory. The prostate was 62 cc, asymmetrical (right lobe greater than left) and diffusely hypoechoic on ultrasound. Serum prostate specific antigen was normal (1.84 ng/ml).
Improved methodology for the retrieval of the particulate extinction coefficient and the lidar ratio from the lidar multiangle measurement

An improved methodology for processing scanning lidar data is considered. We demonstrate a new principle of determining vertical profiles of the particulate extinction coefficient and the lidar ratio with the Kano-Hamilton multiangle solution. This technique, which is also applicable to combined elastic/inelastic lidar measurements, computes the extinction coefficient from the backscatter term rather than from optical depth, thus avoiding numerical differentiation. The inversion is based on determining the stepwise column-integrated lidar ratios that provide the best matching of the initial profile of the optical depth to that obtained after the inversion. We explore two approaches concerning the division of the column-integrated lidar ratio into different ranges: in the first case, divisions between ranges are uniformly distributed; in the second case, divisions are located using estimated uncertainty boundaries in the inverted optical depth. The inversion method was used to process the experimental data obtained in the vicinity of large wildfires with the Fire Sciences Laboratory lidar. Examples of the simulated and experimental data are presented, which illustrate the specifics and prospects of this data-processing methodology.
Functional antagonists at the NMDA receptor complex exhibit antidepressant actions

Inescapable, but not escapable, stress inhibits the induction of Long Term Potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 region of hippocampus, a process that is dependent upon activation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subtype of glutamate receptor. Since inescapable stress also produces a syndrome of behavioral depression sensitive to clinically effective antidepressants, we examined the actions of functional antagonists at the NMDA receptor complex in animal models commonly used to evaluate potential antidepressants. A competitive NMDA antagonist (2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid [AP-7]), a non-competitive NMDA antagonist (Dizolcipine [MK-801]), and a partial agonist at strychnine-insensitive glycine receptors (1-aminocylopropanecarboxylic acid [ACPC]) mimicked the effects of clinically effective antidepressants in these models. These findings indicate that the NMDA receptor complex may be involved in the behavioral deficits induced by inescapable stress, and that substances capable of reducing neurotransmission at the NMDA receptor complex may represent a new class of antidepressants. Based on these findings, the hypothesis that pathways subserved by the NMDA subtype of glutamate receptors are involved in the pathophysiology of affective disorders may have heuristic value.
Visual Matching as a Function of Stimulus Complexity in Normal and Brain-Injured Persons

15 right-brain-damaged, 15 left-damaged, and 15 normal Ss were given visual matching tasks in which the target stimuli became more complex with the successive addition of discriminanda. In Task A the alternates were in the same orientation as the target, in Task B they were rotated. In both tasks, normals were superior to the brain-injured Ss (p < .01); left-damaged were slightly inferior to right-damaged on Task A, and significantly (p = .05) inferior on Task B. There were no differences in identification times except for the comparison normals vs left-damaged on the simpler stimuli of Task A, where the brain-damaged were slower. For left-damaged Ss, performance on Task B was correlated with education, Motor Impersistence, and verbal integrity.
CAN WE IGNORE THE PERSPECTIVE OF BLACK WOMEN ON THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE? A Response to Jeffries, with Reference to Takara

“Looking Behind the Stereotypes of the ‘Angry Black Woman’: An Exploration of Black Women's Responses to Interracial Relationships,” published in Gender and Society in August 2005, was an effort to bring those voices routinely marginalized or ignored into the debate on contemporary interracial relationships. In 2004, I was writing Navigating Interracial Borders: Black-White Couples and Their Social Worlds (2005), the culmination of years of qualitative research on societal responses to interracial relationships and the opposition that still exists toward Black-White relationships in White and Black communities. In my research, as well as previous research on interracial relationships, couples consisting of Black men and White women would recount stories of “angry Black women” who harassed them, “rolled their eyes” at them, and were constructed as a “problem.” These stories are the ones most often heard because most studies of Black-White couples consisted of more Black-man/White-woman couplings, given that they are more common than are Black-women/White-man couplings. Similarly, numerous quantitative studies posit Black women as the least accepting of interracial unions. For my work, I was also analyzing media and film images of interracial unions using films such as Waiting to Exhale (1995) and Jungle Fever (1991), which depict scenes of a group of Black women lamenting the loss of Black men to interracial dating, among other things. From all of these various academic and popular culture sources, the message was clear that Black women are generally opposed to interracial relationships, but very rarely are their own voices actually heard. Instead, at best, their stories have been retold.
Whole rock Th-Pb age for the Masuke and Dembe-Divula complexes, Rhodesia

Abstract A whole rock U-Th-Pb study was carried out on eight granites from a suite previously dated at 177 ± 4my(λ = 1.39 × 10 −11 yr −1 ) by Rb-Sr methods. A U-Pb isochron was not obtained owing to recent leaching of U in the outcrop. Seven samples gave a Th-Pb isochron with age 184 ± 16my(λ = 4.99 × 10 −11 yr −1 ), ( 20/8 Pb 204 Pb) 0 = 39.2 ± 0.2 and MSWD 0.8. The eighth sample fell off the line and was rejected on geological grounds. Dissolving 5 g aliquots of the powdered rock markedly improved the reproducibility of U analyses but analysis of the variances suggests that inhomogeneities still might exist between duplicate dissolutions. Th-Pb geochronology needs further development to bring it to the level of precision of the Rb-Sr method.
Year in review 2008: Critical Care - trauma

Eleven papers on trauma published in Critical Care during 2008 addressed traumatic brain injury (TBI), burns, diagnostic concerns and immunosuppression. In regard to TBI, preliminary results indicate the utility of either magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound in measuring optic nerve sheath diameter to identify elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) as well as the potential benefit of thiopental for refractory ICP. Another investigaticc7960on demonstrated that early extubation of TBI patients whose Glasgow Coma Scale score was 8 or less did not result in additional incidence of nosocomial pneumonia. Another study indicated that strict glucose control resulted in worse outcomes during the first week after TBI, but improved outcomes after the second week. Another paper showed the prolonged neuroprotective advantages of proges-terone administration in TBI patients. There was also guidance on improved classifications of renal complications in burn patients. Another study found that patients with inhalation injuries and increased interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-10 and decreased IL-7 had increased mortality rates. One literature review described the disadvantages of prolonged immobilization or additional use of MRI for ruling out cervical spine injuries in obtunded TBI patients already cleared by computerized tomography scans. Other investigators found that higher N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels may be useful markers for post-traumatic cardiac impairment. Finally, an experimental model showed that both splenic apoptosis and lymphocytopenia may occur shortly after severe hemorrhage, thus increasing the threat of immunosuppression in those with severe blood loss.
Further studies of auroral roar

Extended observations of auroral roar, a weak radio emission near the second harmonic of the electron cyclotron frequency, are reported. A total of 69 events were recorded and analyzed. Data for frequency band, duration, and local time of occurrence are presented. The height of the generation region is estimated to be 275-575 km.
Inhibition of experimental seizures in canines by repetitive vagal stimulation.

Summary: Repetitive electrical stimulation of the canine cervical vagus nerve interrupts or abolishes motor seizures induced by strychnine and tremors induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ). Tremors were defined as rhythmic alternating contractions of opposing muscle groups, exerting much less force than seizure contractions. Seizures were induced by injection boluses of strychnine or PTZ at 1- to 4-min intervals until sustained muscle activity was observed electromyographically (EMG). Vagal stimulation terminated seizures in 0.5-5 s. There were prolonged periods with no spontaneous EMG activity after stimulation. The period of protection was approximately four times the stimulation period. The antiseizure actions of vagal stimulation were not altered by transection of the vagus distal to the stimulating electrode. Optimal stimulus parameters were estimated: strength, -20 V (electrode resistance 1-5 ω); frequency 20–30 Hz; duration, -0.2 ms. These data suggest that the antiseizure effects derive from stimulation of small-diameter afferent unmyelinated fibers in the vagus nerve. These results may form the basis of a new therapeutic approach to epilepsy.
Political Participation in Czechoslovakia

The Stalinist variant of the socialist experiment faces the dilemma of either maintaining its unresponsive posture and thus generating alienation and inefficiency throughout society (especially in the economic system), or legitimizing participation and broadening access to influence, thus forfeiting its totalitarian quality. From the beginning the Prague leadership tried to enjoy the best of both worlds, but after two decades the project finally collapsedin January 1968. Those who advocated the reform and rehabilitation of the political system urged that three aspects of the political process again be granted legitimacy: (1) participation, (2) dissent, and (3) the possibility of a choice among political alternatives. Foreign force intervened, however, and crushed the plan altogether.
Do the associations between exuberance and emotion regulation depend on effortful control

Temperamentally exuberant children may be at risk for emotion regulation problems, but this may also depend on their capacity for effortful control. To examine this issue, we assessed 72 typically-developing 3- to 5-year-olds. Child exuberance, effortful control, and emotion regulation were assessed via maternal report and observations of child behavior. Emotion regulation problems were elevated among children showing high exuberance and among children showing low effortful control. However, during a disappointing task, children with high exuberance showed stable, elevated levels of organized emotion regulation regardless of effortful control; for children with low exuberance, only those who also showed high effortful control showed comparable levels of organized emotion regulation. Implications for understanding risk and resilience associated with exuberance are discussed.
Data Pipeline in MapReduce

MapReduce is an effective programming model for large scale text and data analysis. Traditional MapReduce implementation, e.g., Hadoop, has the restriction that before any analysis can take place, the entire input dataset must be loaded into the cluster. This can introduce sizable latency when the data set is large, and when it is not possible to load the data once, and process many times - a situation that exists for log files, health records and protected texts for instance. We propose a data pipeline approach to hide data upload latency in MapReduce analysis. Our implementation, which is based on Hadoop MapReduce, is completely transparent to user. It introduces a distributed concurrency queue to coordinate data block allocation and synchronization so as to overlap data upload and execution. The paper overcomes two challenges: a fixed number of maps scheduling and dynamic number of maps scheduling allows for better handling of input data sets of unknown size. We also employ delay scheduler to achieve data locality for data pipeline. The evaluation of the solution on different applications on real world data sets shows that our approach shows performance gains.
β-γ circular polarization correlation in Au198 and Co58

The β-γ circular polarization correlation provides a valuable tool for the study of the beta-decay interaction.(1,2) Recently a large interference term due to the presence of S and T or V and A interaction has been found in the allowed J-J transition of Sc46.(3) We report here studies of the J-J transitions in Au198 and Co58.
A Longitudinal Study of Marijuana Effects

One hundred regular marijuana users volunteered to be extensively interviewed in 1968–1970, and 97 were located and reinterviewed 6 to 8 years later. As part of each interview the subjects filled out a checklist review of 105 effects of marijuana. This report focuses on the differential patterns of effects found at the two time intervals. Scores on groupings of items were examined for changes over time. Reports of sensory and hallucinatory items dropped substantially. Reports of appetite effects, sex effects, and intoxication effects on sleep remained stable. Reports of cognitive effects, mood effects, and aftereffects on sleep appeared to be shifting from desirable to undesirable, with the frequency of desirable effects dropping while frequency of undesirable effects remained the same.
A solver for quantified Boolean and linear constraints

We make a number of contributions to the understanding and practical resolution of quantified constraints. Unlike previous work in the CP literature that was essentially focused on constraints expressed as binary tables, we focus on Presburger Arithmetics, i.e., Boolean combinations of linear constraints. From a theoretical perspective, we clarify the problem of the treatment of universal quantifiers by proposing a "symmetric" version of the notion of quantified consistency. This notion imposes to maintain two constraint stores, which will be used to reason on universal and existential variables, respectively. We then describe a branch & bound algorithm that integrates both forms of propagation. Its implementation is, to the best of our knowledge, the first CP solver for this class of quantified constraints.
Auditory object salience: human cortical processing of non-biological action sounds and their acoustic signal attributes

Whether viewed or heard, an object in action can be segmented from a background scene based on a number of different sensory cues. In the visual system, salient low-level attributes of an image are processed along parallel hierarchies, and involve intermediate stages, such as the lateral occipital cortices, wherein gross-level object form features are extracted prior to stages that show object specificity (e.g. for faces, buildings, or tools). In the auditory system, though relying on a rather different set of low-level signal attributes, a distinct acoustic event or “auditory object” can also be readily extracted from a background acoustic scene. However, it remains unclear whether cortical processing strategies used by the auditory system similarly extract gross-level aspects of “acoustic object form” that may be inherent to many real-world sounds. Examining mechanical and environmental action sounds, representing two distinct categories of non-biological and non-vocalization sounds, we had participants assess the degree to which each sound was perceived as a distinct object versus an acoustic scene. Using two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task paradigms, we revealed bilateral foci along the superior temporal gyri (STG) showing sensitivity to the “object-ness” ratings of action sounds, independent of the category of sound and independent of task demands. Moreover, for both categories of sounds these regions also showed parametric sensitivity to spectral structure variations—a measure of change in entropy in the acoustic signals over time (acoustic form)—while only the environmental sounds showed parametric sensitivity to mean entropy measures. Thus, similar to the visual system, the auditory system appears to include intermediate feature extraction stages that are sensitive to the acoustic form of action sounds, and may serve as a stage that begins to dissociate different categories of real-world auditory objects.
Effects of reverberation on fusion of lead and lag noise burst stimuli.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of reverberation on the precedence effect by obtaining thresholds for perception of leading and lagging noise burst stimuli as separate auditory events. In Experiment 1, lag burst thresholds for 4-ms noise bursts were measured in a simulated reverberant and anechoic environment for nine subjects with normal hearing at presentation levels of 10, 20, and 30 dB SL. Results indicated that lag burst thresholds obtained in the reverberant environment were higher than those obtained in the anechoic environment, with no effect of sensation level. In Experiment 2, three new stimulus conditions, two monaural and one binaural control, were employed. For one monaural condition, the stimuli were equal in level and for the other, the leading stimulus was more intense than the lagging stimulus. For the binaural control condition, the stimuli were presented from a perceived spatial location of 0° azimuth. In the monaural and binaural control conditions, lag burst thresholds were lower than those obtained in the reverberant environment of Experiment 1. There was no difference between lag burst thresholds obtained in either environment for the monaural and binaural control conditions compared to the anechoic condition of Experiment 1. Results of Experiment 2 indicate that the higher lag burst thresholds observed in Experiment 1 are not fully explained by a peripheral masking effect.
A host of measurements to explain right ventricular arrhythmias in aged mice.

electrical loading of the cells caused by the replacement fibrosis found mainly at the sides of fibers, and polarization of Cx43 to the intercalated disc regions. Echocardiography did not show major changes in heart function. However, surface electrocardiography indicated conduction slowing (increased P-Q delay and QRS duration) in the senescent mice. This contrasts with the lack of change in longitudinal conduction in the ventricles. The decrease of transverse conduction velocity in the RV and increase in the anisotropy ratio correspond to greater occurrence of anisotropic reentry in the RV. Slow conduction occurred around the ends of a line of block, which is a region where conduction is predominantly across the fiber direction, as the investigators show in Figure 3. The increase in the anisotropy ratio was significant in the senescent RV, whereas the lack of significance of the change in the ratio in the senescent LV suggests a preference of the RV of senescent mice for anisotropic reentry, explaining results of the arrhythmia induction tests. This explanation may be limited because the anisotropy ratio of the senescent mice hearts was as high or higher in the LV (mean of 1.81) compared with the RV (1.78). The mapping also indicated a significant increase in the index of conduction dispersion in the RV of hearts from senescent mice, whereas the LV of these hearts showed an increase that was not significant. Again, a lack of significance on the LV is used to explain the higher occurrence of RV arrhythmias. Conclusions assume the statistical analysis of results from the LV did not produce a type II error (the error of failing to reject a null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true).
A new DC-side active filter for inverter power supplies compensates for unbalanced and nonlinear loads

A DC-side active filtering system for inverter power supplied is presented. The proposed system effectively nullifies the pulsating currents in the inverter input terminals as a result of unbalanced or nonlinear type loads. In the case of a three phase four wire inverter power supply the circulating zero sequence currents in the neutral are also nullified. The proposed system is fast in response, high in efficiency, and does not necessitate excess capacitive kVA required to supply highly unbalanced or nonlinear type loads. Analytical procedure, simulation, and experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed DC-side active filtering system. >
Enhanced classification through exploitation of hierarchical structures

Humans often organize information by encoding it in structures that link together entities such as concepts, objects, properties etc. Among the various structures possible, hierarchies are commonly used. For instance, taxonomies of categories commonly employ hierarchies to indicate that one category "is a" type of another. The Yahoo! Web Directory and the Open Directory Project are two examples of large taxonomies where topics are hierarchically arranged. Hierarchies are also used to recursively decompose composite objects into their constituent parts. Examples of this are webpages that can be parsed and then represented as DOM-trees, where the DOM nodes correspond to sections of the webpages. In this thesis we argue that these hierarchical relationships between entities can be exploited to facilitate common data mining tasks defined upon them, like automated classification. Specifically, we show that the information encoded in these hierarchies can be reduced to constraints on class membership scores that can then be enforced as a post-processing step to enhance the accuracy of classification. We demonstrate our ideas and algorithms on three real-world tasks. First, we tackle the problem of classification into hierarchical taxonomies. We show how different taxonomy structures can be translated into constraints on the outputs of classifiers learned at the nodes of the hierarchy. In addition, we give algorithms to optimally enforce these constraints and show that this results in improved classification accuracy. In cases where the taxonomies are not available, we give an approach to automatically derive hierarchical relationships amongst a flat set of categories. Next, we work on the problem of detecting noisy (templated) parts of webpages. We give algorithms that rate each section of a webpage in terms of how templated it is. Then we show that smoothing the output of these template classifiers over the DOM-tree hierarchy improves the template detection performance of our system. Finally, we investigate the task of segmenting websites into topically cohesive regions. We define a framework and within it a set of measures that characterize good segmentations, and give an efficient algorithm to find the best segmentation within this framework. We formalize the problem of enforcing constraints on the outputs of classifiers as regularized isotonic or unimodal regression on rooted trees; these are generalizations of the classic isotonic regression problem. The nature of the constraints as well as the cost functions is different in each of the applications mentioned above. For all these formulations we give efficient algorithms to optimally smooth the classifier outputs. These novel formulations and algorithms might be of interest independent of the applications in this thesis.
Alpha-fetoprotein is present in the fetal fluids and is increased in plasma of mares with experimentally induced ascending placentitis

The objectives of this study were to: (i) determine alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) concentrations in fetal fluids (FF), and (ii) compare plasma concentrations of AFP in mares with placentitis (n=17) and gestationally age-matched control mares (n=17). Fetal fluid sampling (FFS, n=7/group) was performed at 0, 5 and 12 days post inoculation (DPI) or until abortion. Plasma was harvested daily for 12 days or until abortion. Placentitis was induced via intracervical inoculation of Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus. Proteins present in the FF were resolved by 1D-SDS-PAGE, and immunoblotting was used to detect the presence of AFP in fetal fluids. Concentrations of AFP in FF and plasma were determined with a chemiluminescence immunoassay. Mixed models for DPI, and for days from abortion (DFA) were used to analyze plasma concentrations of AFP. A protein band ∼68kDa consistent with the AFP size was present in all samples of fetal fluids examined. Immunoblotting for AFP revealed a single protein band (∼68kDa) in all samples. Concentrations of AFP in FF appeared higher than those in maternal plasma. There were effects of time (DPI p<0.0001; DFA p=0.0002) and time-by-group interactions (DPI*Group p<0.06; Group*DFA p<0.001). This study confirmed that AFP is present in the FF of mares during the third trimester of pregnancy. Experimentally induced placentitis was associated with an elevation in maternal plasma concentrations of AFP.
The Beginnings of Bleeding-Heart Liberalism: Eugène Sue's Les Mystères de Paris

Eugene Sue's novel Les Mysteres de Paris created a stir when it appeared in 1842–43 in serial form in the daily Journal des Debats and in ten one-volume installments, plus a number of truncated and pirated editions. This rambling episodic work comprises over a dozen melodramas held together mainly by the direct or indirect involvement in them of the hero-savior Rudolph Grand Duke of Gerolstein, the miserly notary and arch villain Jacques Ferrand, the vulnerable sullied virgin Fleur-de-Marie, and the well-meaning aristocratic lady Clemence Marquise d'Harville. Longer than most serial novels, Les Mysteres maintains its readers' interest with lurid exposes of Paris low life, heart-rending descriptions of the sufferings of the deserving poor, diabolical intrigues, knick-of-time rescues, and scenes of sex and violence at all social levels. Periodically the author interrupts his narrative with moralizing commentaries and proposals for social reform. Contemporary observers claimed that everyone from duchesses to house porters read Les Mysteres de Paris for its sensationalism. It has also been argued that the book's working-class readers wrote so many letters to Sue urging him to stress the high moral qualities of his fictional workers—epitomized by the craftsman Jerome Morel—that their “collective constraint” transformed it from a book about the “dangerous” classes into a book about the laboring classes, and converted the author himself into a champion of their cause.
Understanding and Improving Attitudinal Research in Wildlife Sciences

Human dimension research published regarding public attitudes about wildlife or natural resource management often reflects an inadequate understanding on the part of the authors regarding attitudes, their social psychological frameworks, and their relationship to behaviors. In this paper we define attitudes, examine their relationship to behaviors, and examine some theoretical frameworks for attitudes. Additionally, we examine some shortcomings we believe are common in wildlife attitudinal research and make suggestions to improve the quality and consistency of the work.
Regulatory T Cell Induction and Retention in the Lungs Drives Suppression of Detrimental Type 2 Th Cells During Pulmonary Cryptococcal Infection

Lethal disease caused by the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans is a consequence of the combined failure to control pulmonary fungal replication and immunopathology caused by induced type 2 Th2 cell responses in animal models. In order to gain insights into immune regulatory networks, we examined the role of regulatory T (Treg) cells in suppression of Th2 cells using a mouse model of experimental cryptococcosis. Upon pulmonary infection with Cryptococcus, Treg cells accumulated in the lung parenchyma independently of priming in the draining lymph node. Using peptide-MHC class II molecules to identify Cryptococcus-specific Treg cells combined with genetic fate-mapping, we noted that a majority of the Treg cells found in the lungs were induced during the infection. Additionally, we found that Treg cells used the transcription factor, IFN regulatory factor 4, to dampen harmful Th2 cell responses, as well as mediate chemokine retention of Treg cells in the lungs. Taken together, induction and IFN regulatory factor 4-dependent localization of Treg cells in the lungs allow Treg cells to suppress the deleterious effects of Th2 cells during cryptococcal infection.
Uncertainty Modeling with SymPy Stats

We add a random variable type to a mathematical modeling language. We demonstrate through examples how this is a highly separable way to introduce uncertainty and produce and query stochastic models. We motivate the use of symbolics and thin compilers in scientific computing.
The role of structural parameters in DNA cyclization.

Background The intrinsic bendability of DNA plays an important role with relevance for myriad of essential cellular mechanisms. The flexibility of a DNA fragment can be experimentally and computationally examined by its propensity for cyclization, quantified by the Jacobson-Stockmayer J factor. In this study, we use a well-established coarse-grained three-dimensional model of DNA and seven distinct sets of experimentally and computationally derived conformational parameters of the double helix to evaluate the role of structural parameters in calculating DNA cyclization.
Reducibility and Completeness

This material was written for Chapter 28 of the CRC Handbook of Algorithms and Theory of Computation, edited by Mikhail Atallah.
The replication of two California serogroup viruses in a cell line from the mosquito Aedes triseriatus (Diptera: Culicidae).

An Aedes triseriatus cell line was established from neonatal larval tissue. In the 60th passage, the cells have been characterized as to growth, chromosome number, absence of microbial contamination, and absence of La Crosse encephalitis virus (LAC) and other vertebrate viruses as determined by passage in suckling mice and electron microscopy. Isozyme analysis using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of lysed cell suspensions and suspensions of Aedes triseriatus larvae revealed that 4 enzyme phenotypes (isocitrate dehydrogenase, malic enzyme, phosphoglucoisomerase, and phosphoglucomutase) were identical. The Aedes triseriatus cells grow in plastic Falcon flasks in a medium (MM/VP12) composed of equal volumes of Mitsuhashi-Maramorosch and Varma-Pudney media with fetal bovine serum and antibiotics. The growth characteristics of 2 California serogroup viruses (La Crosse and trivittatus) in these cells are described
Studies on the prevalence of endogenous type C virus RD 114 in cats.

SummaryVirus-free cultures of diverse cat cells derived from normal or tumor tissues contained covert RD 114-like viruses inducible with 5-iododeoxyuridine (IdU). Infectious virus was isolated from each of 16 cat cell cultures derived from nine cats, which included six cultures of diverge, normal embryonic tissues from six cats, cultures of tumor (osteosarcoma) of two adult cats, one subline CRFK of Crandell cat cell line, and seven single cell clones we prepared from subline C-C of the same Crandell cat cell line.RD 114 virus as well as feline leukemia virus (FeLV) were recovered from the spleen and bone marrow of cat XC 114B through which McAllister et al. (1) passed RD cells immediately prior to the original discovery of the RD 114 virus. RD 114-like virus was also isolated from a thymus of a cat fetus. Many cat lymphosarcoma specimens contained FeLV but none contained infectious RD 114.These studies provide conclusive evidence of the original mode of infection of RD cells with RD 114 and suggest the w...
What is a Market

Markets are people. But what kind of people?Traditional demographic methods of classifying people into markets have lost much of their ability to discriminate prospects from non-prospects or poor f...
Toward Semantics in the Wild: Activation to Manipulable Nouns in Naturalistic Reading.

The neural basis of language processing, in the context of naturalistic reading of connected text, is a crucial but largely unexplored area. Here we combined functional MRI and eye tracking to examine the reading of text presented as whole paragraphs in two experiments with human subjects. We registered high-temporal resolution eye-tracking data to a low-temporal resolution BOLD signal to extract responses to single words during naturalistic reading where two to four words are typically processed per second. As a test case of a lexical variable, we examined the response to noun manipulability. In both experiments, signal in the left anterior inferior parietal lobule and posterior inferior temporal gyrus and sulcus was positively correlated with noun manipulability. These regions are associated with both action performance and action semantics, and their activation is consistent with a number of previous studies involving tool words and physical tool use. The results show that even during rapid reading of connected text, where semantics of words may be activated only partially, the meaning of manipulable nouns is grounded in action performance systems. This supports the grounded cognition view of semantics, which posits a close link between sensory–motor and conceptual systems of the brain. On the methodological front, these results demonstrate that BOLD responses to lexical variables during naturalistic reading can be extracted by simultaneous use of eye tracking. This opens up new avenues for the study of language and reading in the context of connected text. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The study of language and reading has traditionally relied on single word or sentence stimuli. In fMRI, this is necessitated by the fact that time resolution of a BOLD signal much lower than that of cognitive processes that take place during natural reading of connected text. Here, we propose a method that combines eye tracking and fMRI, and can extract word-level information from the BOLD signal using high-temporal resolution eye tracking. In two experiments, we demonstrate the method by analyzing the activation of manipulable nouns as subjects naturally read paragraphs of text in the scanner, showing the involvement of action/motion perception areas. This opens up new avenues for studying neural correlates of language and reading in more ecologically realistic contexts.
Computational Model of Domain-Specific Reactivity on Coated Ferroelectric Photocatalysts

The optimization of coated ferroelectric photocatalysts represents a promising pathway toward competitive efficiencies. Here, we present a computational model that is used to predict the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of individual coated ferroelectric domains. Criteria are identified that enable increased efficiencies. The net current favored on a negatively polarized domain of BaTiO3 coated with a 20 nm TiO2 (anatase) film is shown to be oxidation, whereas reduction is favored on positively polarized coated BaTiO3 domains. The results indicate that the IQE of the minority carrier reaction (oxidation) at physical conditions reported in the literature is less than 1%. By increasing the carrier lifetime to approximately 100 ns, increasing the reduction reaction kinetics, and optimizing the potential, complementary electron and hole reactions of equal magnitude can occur separately on positive and negative domains with an IQE of over 90% (45% if operated in a Z-scheme). This analysis can be applied to he...