cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Communication and Collaboration in Library Technical Services: A Case Study of New York University in Abu Dhabi

ABSTRACTNew York University Abu Dhabi Library has developed new strategies to increase efficiency in technical services processing between units based in New York and Abu Dhabi. This case study discusses the challenges specific to the international context and the methods used to overcome them, increase speed processing, and ultimately improve patron access to materials. A key factor in successful implementation was the strategic decision made by library administration to provide the newly-hired technical services librarian with three months of cross-training in New York before permanently moving to Abu Dhabi. A specific model of communication was put into action leading to the resolution of many problems and inefficiencies. In addition, a broader study of global communication tools was conducted and resulted in best practices for other library units within the university network. This case study outlines the background, communication processes and outcomes.
Queer People Who Enter ‘Straight’ Marriages: The Academic Community's Struggle to Understand an Anomalous Choice

ABSTRACTSince the early 1970s, the academic community has shown a good deal of interest in the motives of people who are sexually and romantically attracted to persons of their own gender but marry other-gendered partners. Despite more than 60 scholarly papers on the question over the past four decades, however, the current academic conversation has moved little since the early 1970s. The authors analyzed 66 scholarly works published between 1969 and 2012 that discussed gay- and bi-identified people's reasons for entering mixed-orientation marriages (marriage between a man and a woman, when one does and the other does not identify as heterosexual). Although the empirical literature consistently supports the importance of love for the other-gendered spouse, most authors have minimized this motive and emphasized the importance of negative motives related to the costs of being identified as gay (e.g., to hide, deny, or cure one's nonstraight sexual orientation). The authors argue that this distortion of the ...
In vitro propagation of ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) by somatic embryogenesis

Induction of somatic embryogenesis is described in common ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.). Embryogenic tissues are obtained from immature zygotic embryos and cultured on a modified Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 8.8 μM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 4.4 μM benzyl-adenine. Embryogenic tissue is subcultured and multiplied on medium supplemented with reduced concentration of plant growth hormones. Somatic embryos develop and mature by transfer to hormone-free medium and subsequent culture on medium containing low amount of benzyladenine. Somatic embryo germination and conversion are enhanced by cold storage at 4°C and successive transfer onto Woody Plant Medium (WPM). Fully developed plantlets are then transferred to pots and acclimatized in the greenhouse equipped with a mist system.
Heuristics for 2-coverage multi point relay problem in wireless ad hoc and sensor networks

Multi point relay (MPR) selection problem aims at improving energy efficiency by minimizing the number of relay nodes for a network wide broadcast operation in wireless ad hoc and sensor networks. If a relay node misses a broadcast packet, a large number of nodes reachable via this relay node may end up missing this broadcast packet. Therefore, improving broadcast reliability in an energy efficient way becomes an interesting task for those broadcast applications that benefit from an increased level of reliability. In this paper, we propose three incremental heuristics to select MPR nodes so as to provide 2-coverage to all 2-hop neighbors of a broadcasting node. Our heuristics are built on our former exact solution to 1-coverage MPR problem. Our simulation based evaluations show that the proposed heuristics can provide very good accuracy level for 2-coverage MPR problem.
Learning My Way

The young are less interested in what the old have to say than the old think they ought to be, but if any oldie talk does interest young people it is about how elders got into their lines of work. The Bildungsroman about one's coming of age by getting into bed and into one's profession (usually not the same thing) tends to sell, even when as lachrymose as Werther . I was at table with B. F. Skinner shortly after the appearance of his surprisingly popular autobiography, Particulars of My Life (Skinner, 1976), which he ended with his decision at age 25 not to be a novelist (a decision that readers of his Walden Two will regard as wise) but instead to go into psychology. When I asked him if he planned to write a sequel that would describe his life as a psychologist, Skinner said probably not, because few people outside one's field are interested in hearing about what happens to one after age 25. Apparently he changed his mind later, because two subsequent autobiographical volumes appeared, providing an account of his intellectual Odyssey as psychologist. Disappointing sales may have left his publisher wishing Skinner had held to his initial resolve to end his “Life” when he began his work. ENTERING A LIFE IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH How Did You Get into This Field? Youths' interest in how elders heard their calling probably reflects uncertainty about their own vocations, but elders' descriptions tend to be of little help.
Chile: the Revolution That No One Desired

The 1960s were turbulent but exciting times for Latin America. Change was in the air. Chile, between the election of Eduardo Frei Montalva in 1964 as president and the violent overthrow of Latin America’s first elected Marxist government in 1973, was facing a crucial decision of how to restructure its democratic but populist state system. Chile was at the last phase of becoming autonomous and acquiring power to determine its own destiny. The slow process of the statist intervention in the market since the early 1930s ran into setbacks first under General Carlos Ibanez, who came to office by coup and then by election and then under the rule of the Alessandri father-and-son team of the conservative nationalist tradition. The decade between 1964 and 1973 was going to be a decisive period for Chile to finalize its quest for power and autonomy.
Electrodynamic Sorting of Light Metals and Alloys

Electrodynamic Sorting (EDX™), or variable-frequency eddy-current sorting, is an evolution of sorting technology aimed primarily at light-metal and aluminum alloy recycling. EDX™ is being developed by the Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah, under an ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy) contract. From a purely physical perspective, the EDX system operates by generating an alternating magnetic field in the gap of a toroidal ferrite core. As metallic particles pass through the gap, eddy currents are induced by the presence of the alternating field, which repel the particle from the gap. The velocity at which they exist then varies with distinct physical properties like electrical conductivity, mass density, excitation frequency, and geometry. In this presentation, we describe the fundamental physics of the phenomenon, including simulation data with CST software and results in pilot scale (100 kg/h) systems. Finally, the results on auto shredder scrap mix is presented.
Attitudes About Lung Cancer Screening: Primary Care Providers Versus Specialists

Abstract Background On the basis of the results of the National Lung Screening Trial, the US Preventive Services Task Force now recommends yearly low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for lung cancer screening among high-risk individuals. There is limited information regarding physician attitudes toward LDCT screening and whether these vary according to provider specialty. Materials and Methods Primary care providers (PCPs) and specialists were surveyed about their knowledge and attitudes toward lung cancer screening and likelihood to order an LDCT screening. Descriptive and univariate analyses were used to assess differences between PCPs versus specialists. Results Of the 103 respondents 69% were PCPs, 45% were attending-level physicians, 42% were male, and most (51%) worked in mixed outpatient/inpatient practice settings. Compared with specialists, PCPs were less likely to feel confident in their ability to identify appropriate patients for lung cancer screening (63.8% vs. 93.5%; P P P P = .01) or have sufficient time for counseling (14.3% vs. 50%; P Conclusion Despite feeling less confident and knowledgeable about lung cancer screening, PCPs are as likely as specialists to recommend LDCT screening. However, PCPs need further education to ensure the success of lung cancer screening programs.
Frontline employees in the health clinic: Impression management multiplexing when performing in-the-round

ABSTRACTUsing Goffman's dramaturgical perspective of impression management, the present study focuses on the staged performances of frontline employees (FLEs) at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Qualitative analysis reveals how FLEs in health clinics engage in staged communication to perform their jobs and facilitate patient care. Our findings highlight three overarching themes in which FLEs’ communication compounds frontstage and backstage practices: performing on a multidimensional stage, enacting scripted and improvisational roles, and incorporating regulatory strategies to accomplish their work. We argue these communicative practices culminate into the proposed theoretical concept of impression management multiplexing (IMM). Implications for clinic FLEs, patient care, and patient privacy are discussed.
Acute Leukemias of Ambiguous Lineage

Acute leukemias of ambiguous lineage are defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) classification as leukemias that either lack a specific lineage association or show features of concurrent multiple lineage associations [1, 2]. Ambiguous-lineage leukemias are more rare and more diagnostically challenging than conventional acute myeloid leukemias and lymphoblastic leukemias [1–11]. Given that the cytologic features of these leukemias are generally nonspecific, the diagnosis rests upon extensive immunophenotypic analysis. Multiparametric flow cytometric immunophenotyping is the preferred method for immunophenotyping, but in some cases, immunohistochemistry may be performed and may facilitate the recognition of two distinct blast populations in tissue sections. In addition to standard immunophenotypic studies, further evaluation should include cytogenetic studies to identify cases with t(9;22)(q34.1;q11.2); BCR-ABL1 or t(v;11q23.3); KMT2A rearranged. Table 13.1 highlights the diagnostic subcategories of acute leukemias of ambiguous lineage, Table 13.2 lists the diagnostic criteria for lineage determination, and Table 13.3 compares lineage-specific and lineage-associated markers in acute leukemia. This chapter provides pathologic examples of various ambiguous-lineage leukemias and illustrates the key diagnostic challenges, considerations, and caveats in establishing these rare diagnoses (Figs. 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6, 13.7, 13.8, 13.9, 13.10, 13.11, 13.12, 13.13, 13.14, 13.15, 13.16, and 13.17).
Leadership Development in Medicine.

Leadership Development in Medicine Health care suffers from a persistent disconnect between the capacity of the physician-leadership workforce and the needs of our increasingly complex health syste...
Effect of estradiol on uterine weight, thyroid function food intake, and pituitary weight of genetically obese (fatty-Zucker) and lean rats.

At the time of the experiment lean animals weighed 226-235 gm and the fatty rats 330-440 gm. On Day 5 after castration rats received injections of estradiol-17beta (E2) for a 3-day period. Doses were .01-100 mcg/100 gm of body weight. Radioiodine uptake was determined by injecting 50 microCi of iodine-125 ip 24 hours before sacrifice. Beginning 12 hours after the last dose of E2 pairs of rats including a fatty and lean rat were sacrificed until all had been killed. Ovaries (at castration or autopsy) pituitary and thyroid were removed and weighed. Uteri in obese rats were significantly smaller than in lean rats. There was a close dose-response relationship between E2 and the weight of the uteri; this was more marked in the obese rats. The radioactivity of the thyroid was increased more in the lean rats. Fatty rats ate more food than lean rats. The highest dose of E2 did not increase the food intake of obese rats but did increase that of the lean animals. It is concluded that the small uteri in the fatty rats may be due to decreased estrogenization and that this may also partly account for the small pituitary and low thyroid uptake of radioiodine.
Identification and Estimation of the Levo Isomer in Raw Materials and Finished Products Containing Atropine and/or Hyoscyamine

The belladonna alkaloids atropine sulfate and hyoscyamine sulfate, occasionally used as anticholinergic and antimuscarinic agents, have identical molecular formulas but different stereo configurations. Hyoscyamine sulfate contains almost 100% of the levo isomer, whereas atropine sulfate is composed of equal parts of dextro and levo isomers. It is believed that the therapeutic properties of these alkaloids are due exclusively or primarily to the levo isomer. Currently available methods determine only the total amount of atropine (hyoscyamine) sulfate. A method has been developed and is reported for the identification and estimation of the levo and dextro isomers of atropine and hyoscyamine. Reference solutions are prepared in methanol at the following weights per 100 mL: 8.0 mg atropine sulfate; 4.0 mg hyoscyamine sulfate; 7.0 mg scopolamine hydrobromide; and 10.0 mg homatropine methylbromide. Samples of raw materials are similarly prepared in methanol, commercial products are also extracted or diluted with methanol, and solutions are filtered. Liquid chromatography is used for separations on a 25 cm Chirobiotic T2 column. The mobile phase is prepared by mixing 3.0 mL acetic acid and 2.0 mL triethylamine with 1000 mL methanol. The injection volume is 100 or 200 microL; the flow rate is about 0.35 mL/min. Fluorescence detection is at 255 nm excitation and 285 nm emission. Scopolamine hydrobromide and hyoscyamine eluted after 20 and 60 min, respectively. Atropine sulfate generated 2 peaks after 60 and 65 min. Homatropine methylbromide also produced 2 peaks after 70 and 85 min. Samples tested in this study included raw materials and commercial tablets or injections containing belladonna alkaloids. In all cases, the percentage calculated was that of the levo isomer relative to the total amount of atropine (hyoscyamine) present.
The identification of prostaglandins E2, F2α and A2 from rabbit kidney medulla

Rabbit kidney medulla (10kg.) was homogenized in 5mm-disodium hydrogen phosphate and deproteinized with ethanol, and the concentrated supernatant solution was extracted at pH8 with light petroleum and at pH2 with chloroform. The acidic lipids present in the chloroform phase were separated on silicic acid columns into three biologically active fractions. The first fraction contained only vasodepressor activity; the second fraction contained both vasodepressor and non-vascular-smooth-muscle-stimulating activity; the third fraction contained both vasopressor and non-vascular-smooth-muscle-stimulating activity. Purification of each fraction by reversed-phase partition and thick-layer chromatography yielded three pure acids. Thin-layer chromatographic, spectroscopic and mass-spectral analysis of the acids and their methyl esters established their structures as prostaglandins E2, F2α and A2. Evidence is presented demonstrating that part or all of the prostaglandin A2 is formed during the isolation procedures from endogenous prostaglandin E2.
2-D bar codes: a visual approach to error-correction and detection & the OSI layers

Two-dimensional bar codes incorporate a considerable amount of data communications and information theory topics. The implementation of a 2-D bar code design project can be used to improve the student's understanding of several OSI layers, as well as providing a strong introduction to error-detection and error correction. This paper presents a hypothetical bar code as an instructional tool that can be implemented with either electronics, information technology, or computer science students. It can even be used as an interdisciplinary project where students in electronics, IT, and computer science focus upon different functional layers.
Two Brownstowns: A Case Study on Moral Injury and Reciprocal Violence

Histories of the War of 1812 have to date focused on heroic soldiers and battlefield exploits. An exploration of two small skirmishes illustrates not only how British and Americans claimed victory ...
Metabolomic assessment of exposure to near-highway ultrafine particles

Exposure to traffic-related air pollutants has been associated with increased risk of adverse cardiopulmonary outcomes and mortality; however, the biochemical pathways linking exposure to disease are not known. To delineate biological response mechanisms associated with exposure to near-highway ultrafine particles (UFP), we used untargeted high-resolution metabolomics to profile plasma from 59 participants enrolled in the Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health (CAFEH) study. Metabolic variations associated with UFP exposure were assessed using a cross-sectional study design based upon low (mean 16,000 particles/cm3) and high (mean 24,000 particles/cm3) annual average UFP exposures. In comparing quantified metabolites, we identified five metabolites that were differentially expressed between low and high exposures, including arginine, aspartic acid, glutamine, cystine and methionine sulfoxide. Analysis of the metabolome identified 316 m/z features associated with UFP, which were consistent with increased lipid peroxidation, endogenous inhibitors of nitric oxide and vehicle exhaust exposure biomarkers. Network correlation analysis and metabolic pathway enrichment identified 38 pathways and included variations related to inflammation, endothelial function and mitochondrial bioenergetics. Taken together, these results suggest UFP exposure is associated with a complex series of metabolic variations related to antioxidant pathways, in vivo generation of reactive oxygen species and processes critical to endothelial function.
Neurocognitive Functioning in Unoperated Adults with Chiari Malformation Type I

Objective Adults with Chiari malformation type 1 (CM1) often report cognitive impairment. This cross-sectional study investigates the cognitive and emotional functioning of a sample of adults with CM1 who presented for neurosurgical evaluation prior to intervention. Methods A total of 36 participants (18 patients with CM1 and 18 healthy control subjects) completed a comprehensive neurocognitive battery of tests. Results Demographic variables (sex, age, handedness, and education) were not statistically significant between the groups. Measures of gross cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination and Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status) were statistically significant between the groups. On a more focused assessment of neurocognitive abilities, the CM1 group performed significantly worse on measures of learning, memory, fluency, and figural copy. A high rate of clinical depression was seen in the CM1 group; however, this did not correlate with cognitive performance. Conclusions The CM1 group displayed subtle learning, semantic fluency, and complex construction difficulties compared with healthy control subjects. Although not correlated with cognition, adults with CM1 are at high risk for clinical depression.
The use of atropine in childhood myopia: Experience in Indian eyes

This clinical query section discusses the use of topical atropine in childhood myopia among Indian children. Experts from across the country share their viewpoints, clinical experience, and concerns on the subject.
What kinds of questions do students ask while exploring data visualizations

Question-asking is a necessary step towards formulating hypotheses, making decisions, and solving problems, and is Practice #1 in the Next Generation Science Standards. To improve question-asking, ...
Caring in the recruitment of older African American adults with chronic health disease: An integrative review

AbstractObjectivesThe aim of this integrative review is to accrue a comprehensive understanding of caring behavioral characteristics in the recruitment of older African-American adults into health-...
A Hair-Raising Demonstration.

This note is about 1000 words in length. We have been taught that this much information is contained in a single picture. But, Fig. 1 is so rich that four separate ideas can be obtained from it! The figure appears in The Boy’s Playbook of Science by John Henry Pepper. Pepper tells us that this shows an “assistant standing on the insulating stool and touching the disk of the electroscope while being struck with a dry handkerchief.”
Early versus late surgical intervention for central cord syndrome: A nationwide all-payer inpatient analysis of length of stay, discharge destination and cost of care

Abstract Objective Central cord syndrome (CCS) is the most common incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI), resulting in various degrees of neurologic compromise below the level of the affected cervical cord. The management of CCS is controversial regarding not only whether to surgically intervene, but also when surgery should occur. In this study, we conduct the largest multi-center study to date examining differences in inpatient outcomes, general discharge disposition, length of stay, and cost associated with early versus late surgical intervention for CCS. Patients and methods The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) was queried for years 2012–2015 for patients who underwent surgery with a primary diagnosis of CCS. The median interval between admission and intervention was noted. Patients operated upon prior to this timepoint were placed in the early surgery group, and others into the later surgery group. The groups were then compared, while using 1:1 propensity score matching to control for baseline presentation, with respect to mortality, discharge disposition, length of stay, and total charges. Results A total of 422 patients met inclusion and exclusion criteria. The median time from admission to intervention was 2 days. Patients with higher initial severity of injury were more likely to undergo early surgery. Upon controlling for severity of initial presentation, earlier intervention did not appear to affect mortality or post-operative length of stay. However, patients operated upon earlier had more favorable discharge destinations (p = 0.025) and a lower associated cost of care ($198,050.70 vs. $243,048.10, p = 0.009). Conclusion Earlier surgical intervention for CCS may result in better patient disposition and less total charges. Level of evidence III.
Quality Assurance in the Emergency Department

Quality assurance (QA) of care in the emergency department encompasses activities ensuring that the care provided meets applicable standards. Health care delivery is complex and many factors affect quality of care. Thus, quantification of health care quality is challenging, especially with regard to attribution of outcomes to various factors contributing to such care. A critical component of the process of QA is determination of quality health care and the concept of (unjustified) deviation from the reference applicable standard of care.
Reduction of neuroinflammation alleviated mouse post bone fracture and stroke memory dysfunction.

Tibia fracture (BF) enhances stroke injury and post-stroke memory dysfunction in mouse. Reduction of neuroinflammation by activation of α-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α-7 nAchR) reduced acute neuronal injury and sensorimotor dysfunction in mice with BF 1-day after stroke. We hypothesize that reduction of neuroinflammation by activation of α-7 nAchR improves long-term memory function of mice with BF 6-h before stroke. The mice were randomly assigned to saline, PHA-568487 (α-7 nAchR agonist) and methyllycaconitine (antagonist) treatment groups. The sensorimotor function was tested by adhesive removal and corner tests at 3 days, the memory function was tested by Y-maze test weekly for 8 weeks and novel objective recognition test at 8 weeks post-injuries. We found PHA-568487 treatment reduced, methyllycaconitine increased the number of CD68+ cells in the peri-infarct and hippocampal regions, neuronal injury in the infarct region, sensorimotor and long-term memory dysfunctions. PHA-568487 treatment also reduced, while methyllycaconitine treatment increased atrophy of hippocampal granule cell layer and white matter damage in the striatum. In addition, PHA-568487 treatment increased neuron proliferation in granule cell layer. Our data indicated that reduction of neuroinflammation through activation of α-7 nAchR decreased neuronal damage, sensorimotor and long-term memory dysfunction of mice with BF shortly before stroke.
Diurnal variation in SARS-CoV-2 PCR test results: Test accuracy may vary by time of day

False negative tests for SARS-CoV-2 are common and have important public health and medical implications. We tested the hypothesis that the proportion of positive SARS-CoV-2 real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests varied by time of day, suggesting variation in viral shedding by time of day. Among 30,000 clinical tests performed among symptomatic and asymptomatic patients in the Vanderbilt Affiliated Healthcare Network from March-June 2020, we found evidence for diurnal variation in the proportion of positive SARS-CoV-2 tests, with a peak around 2pm in the afternoon and 2-fold variation over the day. Variation was most pronounced in outpatient and inpatient testing locations. These findings have important implications for public health testing and vaccination strategies.
Common Owners and Reporting Practices: Evidence from Financial Statement Comparability

This study investigates whether common institutional blockholders, i.e., institutional owners who simultaneously own significant stakes in multiple firms within the same industry, affect financial statement comparability among their portfolio firms. We document that financial statement comparability between a pair of firms within the same industry increases with the presence of common owners, the number of common owners, and the percentage of shares held by common owners. Exploiting institutional mergers as a quasi-natural shock to common institutional ownership, we show that our results are not driven by endogeneity concerns. The effect of common owners on comparability is more pronounced when (1) the firm-pairs have higher operating uncertainty and information opacity, (2) the firm-pairs weigh more within the common owners’ portfolio, and (3) the common owners have larger stock holdings in the same industry. Additionally, we find that firm-pairs with common owners have similar accrual adjustments. These results indicate that common owners’ demand for comparable accounting information is a driver of financial statement comparability. To the extent that higher financial statement comparability is beneficial to other market participants, our study sheds light on the positive externalities of common owners.
Contests for Experimentation

We study contests for innovation with learning about the innovation’s feasibility and opponents’ outcomes. We characterize contests that maximize innovation when the designer chooses a prize-sharing scheme and a disclosure policy. A “public winner-takes-all” contest dominates public contests—where any success is immediately disclosed—with any other prize-sharing scheme as well as winner-takes-all contests with any other disclosure policy. Yet, jointly modifying prize sharing and disclosure can increase innovation. In a broad class of mechanisms, it is optimal to share the prize with disclosure following a certain number of successes; under simple conditions, a “hidden equal-sharing” contest is optimal.
Use of Commands in ANSYS

The distinct differences between the two modes of ANSYS usage, i.e., the Graphical User Interface (GUI) and Batch Mode, are covered briefly in Chap. 2, and the most common operations within the Preprocessor, Solution, and Postprocessors, mainly using the GUI, are covered in Chap. 4 and 5. This chapter is devoted to using the Batch Mode of ANSYS, which is the method preferred by advanced ANSYS users.
Substantive Specializations in Master's Level Social Work Curricula.

Data on the extent and structure of substantive specializations in Master's level social work curricula indicate the continuation of a trend toward organization by both practice method and substantive focus. However, little indication of depth is found in existing specializations. Apparent increases in curricular specialization may actually be, in part, a change in program descriptions and true innovation and development of new practice fields may be unrealistic at this time.
Identification of the Genes for the Lactose-Specific Components of the Phosphotransferase System in the Lac Operon of Staphylococcus Aureus

The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the lacE and lacF genes, which code for the lactose-specific Enzyme II and Enzyme III of the Staphylococcus aureus phosphotransferase system, are presented. The primary translation products consist of a hydrophobic protein of 572 amino acids (Mr = 62,688) and a polypeptide of 103 amino acids (Mr = 11,372), respectively. The assignment of lacF as the gene for Enzyme IIIlac was based upon the known amino acid sequence of the protein. The identity of lacE as encoding Enzyme IIlac was based upon immunoreactivity of the cloned gene product with antibodies raised against purified Enzyme IIlac from S. aureus and an assay of biological function of the protein expressed in Escherichia coli. The order of the known genes of the S. aureus lac operon is lacF-lacE-lacG, the latter encoding phospho-beta-galactosidase.
The role of cobamides in methionine synthesis. Enzymatic formation of holoenzyme.

Abstract An enzyme has been obtained from extracts of Escherichia coli which catalyzes the synthesis of N5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase holoenzyme from apoenzyme and 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolylcobamide deoxyadenosyl in the presence of a reduced pyridine nucleotide. In addition to holoenzyme formation, this system supplies the reducing power for the synthesis of methionine from N5-methyl-H4-folate. It is suggested that this enzyme system functions by reducing the cobamide prosthetic group, and that it may be the natural reducing system required for methionine synthesis in E. coli.
Triplet Anisotropy Decay Measurements of DNA Internal Motion

Triplet anisotropy decay techniques have been used to measure the internal flexibility and overall rotational motions of DNA over a time range of 15 ns to 200 microseconds. Nearly monodisperse DNA fragments with lengths varying from 65 to 600 base pairs were studied using the intercalating dye methylene blue as a triplet probe. The slow end-over-end tumbling of short DNA fragments (less than 165 base pairs) is as predicted for a rigid rod. As expected, a longer DNA fragment (600 base pairs) experiences slow segmental motions of its helix axis. At the earliest times, anisotropy decays more rapidly than expected for a rigid rod, suggesting that, when it is bound, methylene blue monitors fast internal motions of the helix. Since the rod-like end-over-end tumbling rules out fast bending motions (for short DNA fragments), the fast components of DNA anisotropy decay must be due to twisting motions of the helix, occurring with a time constant near 50 ns. The same techniques were used to measure the conformational flexibility of DNA in the nucleosome. It is concluded that, when the DNA helix is wrapped to form a nucleosome, it experiences substantial internal flexibility, occurring with a time constant near 30 ns. The amplitude and time-scale of this motion appear to be similar to that seen in the uncomplexed DNA helix.
La Autoantigen Specifically Recognizes a Predicted Stem-Loop in Hepatitis B Virus RNA

We recently identified three nuclear proteins (p45, p39, and p26) that bind to a 91-nucleotide (nt) RNA element between nt 1243 and 1333 in hepatitis B virus (HBV) RNA, and we showed that these proteins and HBV RNA are regulated coordinately by gamma interferon and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Purification and sequence analysis of tryptic peptides obtained from p39 revealed sequence homology to the mouse La protein. Immunoprecipitation experiments showed that p45, p39, and p26 were recognized by anti-La-specific antiserum, indicating that p45 is the full-length La protein and that p39 and p26 are likely to be proteolytic La cleavage products. Furthermore, in competition experiments we found that all three La proteins bind, in a phosphorylation-dependent manner, to the same predicted stem-loop structure located between nt 1275 and 1291 of HBV, with Kds of approximately 1.0 nM. Collectively, these results support the notion that the La protein may contribute to HBV RNA stability, constitutively and in response to inflammatory cytokines.
Effects of duration and formant movement on vowel perception

Acoustical analysis of speech and perceptual studies indicate that the dominant acoustic correlates of vowel perception are the frequencies of the first three formants. However, most vowels are not completely steady-state (even in isolation) and formant frequencies change with variation in the surrounding consonantal context, prosodic influences, speaking rate, and vocal tract length of the talker. In the present studies, both natural and synthetic syllables ("head" and "had") were used to explore the relative potency of average formant frequencies, vocalic duration, and formant frequency movement in vowel perception. A male talker was identified whose formant frequencies, at the midpoint of the words "had" and "head", were identical. However, these tokens differed in their voiced duration and movement of the first three formants and were also highly intelligible. Since the formant frequencies at midpoint could not distinguish these two words, listeners were clearly using different/additional information to guide perception. In the first study, vowel duration was varied. Digital waveform editing was used to generate two series, one based on "had" and the other based on "head". Overall, duration had little effect on listeners' classification of the stimuli. The second study employed synthetic series in which the formant movements of the first three formants were varied between those of the natural "had" and those of the natural "head".
Toward automatic annotation of in situ mRNA expression patterns of drosophila embryos

The in situ mRNA hybridization gene expression pattern images of Drosophila melanogaster in the course of embryogenesis provide spatial-temporal information of the expression patterns of a target gene. This information is critical for understanding the roles of genes during the development of embryos. Currently, the annotation of these images is often done by manually assigning a subset of image ontology terms to the images. This approach is time consuming and depends heavily on the consistency of the experts. Alternatively, if the annotation process can be automated or semi-automated, efficiency and consistency are likely to be greatly enhanced. We formulate this task as a pattern classification problem, and present preliminary results. We consider both the template-based global matching and the multi-objective classification based on neural networks (e.g. multi-layer perceptron). We develop a method to combine them to optimize efficiency and accuracy. This method has been applied to the gene expression pattern image database generated by the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project.
D-Arabitol Production by Endomycopsis chodati

Endomycopsis chodati in an aerated fermentation produced d-arabitol in yields of 35 to 40% of the sugar supplied. Glucose, mannose, and sucrose were suitable substrates. A synthetic medium was developed for the fermentation that showed that nitrogen in the medium must be limiting to obtain high yields of arabitol. Excess phosphate also tended to lower arabitol yields, although the effect was not so great as with nitrogen. Pilot plant-size fermentations were made in which all the nutrients were supplied by blackstrap molasses and urea. Arabitol yields in these fermentations were about 40% of the sugar supplied.
Towards Large-Scale Molecular Dynamics Simulations on Graphics Processors

Atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are a vital tool in chemical research, as they are able to provide a view of chemical systems and processes that is not obtainable through experiment. However, large-scale MD simulations require access to multicore clusters or supercomputers that are not always available to all researchers. Recently, many have begun to explore the power of graphics processing units (GPUs) for various applications, such as MD. We present preliminary results of water simulations carried out on GPUs. We compare the performance gained using a GPU versus the same simulation on a single CPU or multiple CPUs. We also address the use of more accurate double precision arithmetic with the newest GPUs and its cost in performance.
Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk about It

Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk about It. John Entine. New York: Public Affairs, 2000. 387 pp.
Optimal symbol set selection: a semiautomated procedure

A new model of the visual search process is developed which can improve the design of large symbol sets such as those used by nuclear power plant personnel, air traffic controllers, and battlefield troops. An experiment was conducted to determine whether the new, componential model or an already existing, discriminability model better explains visual search behavior. The results were consistent with the componential model. We show how to use the componential model to help automate selection of the optimal symbol set (i.e., the symbol set that minimizes the average time to find a target).
The Scattering of a Beam of Potassium Atoms in Various Gases

A narrow beam of neutral K atoms was scattered in ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$, He, Ne, ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$, A and C${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ at low pressures. The distribution of the scattered K atoms about the original beam was measured by the Langmuir-Taylor surface ionization detector. The experimental conditions were sufficiently refined that K atoms suffering very small angular deviations (down to about 4.5\ensuremath{'} of arc) were counted as scattered atoms. The computed "effective collision radii" when compared with the values expected from the quantum theory of elastic sphere collisions show good agreement for ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ and He. For the other gases, the experimental values are much larger, indicating the existence of considerable interatomic attractive forces even for Ne and A.
VIP-like immunoreactivity in the anterior hypothalamic area of a hibernating bat varies with physiological state.

Abstract Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-like immunoreactivity in the anterior hypothalamic area (AHA) was studied in 15 bats which are seasonal hibernators, using the unlabeled antibody enzyme of Sternberger. Our results showed that the density of immunoreactive fibers and terminal plexuses in the AHA was greatest in euthermic animals and decreased dramatically when body temperature and cardiac rate were depressed and animals entered hibernation.
Nature of motions between sarcomeres in asynchronously contracting cardiac muscle cells.

We observed the asynchronized motions that occur between the sarcomeres during spontaneous contractions to study the mechanical nature of the intact cardiac muscle cell (guinea pig, rat). The cell's striated image is detected by a photodiode array, and sarcomere length is measured very precisely 526/s in two separate, selected fixed regions of the image from the localized frequency of the array's video signal (Krueger and Denton, 1992, Biophys. J., 61:129–144, second of two companion manuscripts). An extension of this approach is described here in which the spatial variation of sarcomere length is visualized by scanned sampling, i.e., displacing the first window along the length of the cell, and nonuniform strain is deduced from the histograms of sarcomere length. The nature of asynchronous motion that was obtained from both fixed sampling of the sarcomere's dynamics and by scanned sampling of sarcomere length was consistent. In spontaneously active cells, sarcomeres lengthen approximately 0.1 micron beyond their rest length before the arrival of the propagated wave of contraction. Such prelengthening extends in a nonuniform fashion for approximately 10 to 15 microns in the unattached cell. Shortening and lengthening motions, being in proportion for both large and small displacements, are well coupled. Lifting the cell from the substrate showed that the force that sustains prelengthening arises within the cell. Differences in the sarcomere's dynamics in synchronous and asynchronous contractions corroborate that asynchrony imposes an additional internal restoring force. The extra force estimated to account for prelengthening (0.5–0.7 mN/mm2) has little effect on the velocity of shortening, and so the true intracellular restoring force must be correspondingly larger. The intracellular restoring force may contribute significantly to the rapid 'diastolic' recoil of the heart muscle at short sarcomere lengths.
A Versatile Solid Phase Synthesis of Lavendustin A and Certain Biologically Active Analogs

Reaction of aminomethylated polystyrene resin (8) with succinic anhydride, followed by esterification of the free carboxylic acid of the product 9 with 2,5-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (4), afforded the resin-linked aldehyde intermediate 10. The key intermediate 10 was converted into the protein-tyrosine kinase inhibitor lavendustin A and certain analogs through reductive amination and reductive alkylation steps, followed by cleavage from the resin. This method enables the preparation of a wide variety of lavendustin A analogs using combinatorial chemistry and parallel synthesis techniques.
Role of Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibitors in Heart Failure: Emerging Data and Concepts

Novel treatment of congestive heart failure (HF) involves utilizing unique pathways to improve upon contemporary therapies. Increasing the availability of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) by inhibition of phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) is a relatively new, but promising therapeutic strategy. Preclinical studies suggest a favorable myocardial effect of PDE5 inhibitors by blocking adrenergic, hypertrophic and pro-apoptotic signaling, thereby supporting their use in HF. The clinical benefits of acute and chronic PDE5 inhibition on lung diffusion capacity, exercise performance and ejection fraction in humans are emerging and appear promising. Larger, controlled trials are now on-going to assess the safety, efficacy and tolerability of PDE5 inhibitors on morbidity and mortality in patients with both systolic and diastolic heart failure. If the results of these trials are positive, a new avenue for the treatment of HF will open, which will help curtail the societal effects of this costly and morbid disease.
Children's dreams: Their meaning and use in clinical practice

Children begin dreaming sometime in the first year of life. Young children have a limited ability to distinguish dreams from reality or fantasy until they approach school age. Through childhood and adolescence, children's dreams tend to reflect representations of typical developmental issues, wish fulfillment themes, and environmental stimuli. In addition to the manifest content, the latent meaning and associations of children's dreams also reflect the ego functioning of the child and are of extreme clinical value. Understanding these meanings can assist in our usual process of assessing emotional disturbances, locating the unconscious nature of the conflicts, and assessing the therapeutic relationship.
Behavior-based fuzzy control framework for multi-mobile-robot deployment

This paper proposes a behavior-based fuzzy control framework for controlling a multi-robot system (MRS) to approach desired sensory coverage in an unknown environment while maintaining wireless communication connections and avoiding collisions. Such an MRS consists of multiple mobile robots with limited onboard sensing and wireless communication capabilities. Each robot can perform two categories of behaviors: 1) fundamental behaviors, e.g. forming sensory coverage, maintaining wireless communication connections, and avoiding collisions, are necessary for reliable functioning of the MRS; 2) application behaviors, e.g. search and exploration, are defined to fulfill the goals of specific deployment tasks. In the proposed control architecture, these behaviors are realized by appropriately-defined parallel fuzzy controllers with different priorities, and behaviors can easily be added or removed by adding or removing corresponding parallel fuzzy controllers without affecting other behaviors. The effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy control framework has been verified through a series of simulated deployment and destination approaching tasks over unknown environments.
A20 Is Dynamically Regulated in the Heart and Inhibits the Hypertrophic Response

Background— Nuclear factor (NF)–κB signaling has been implicated in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Here, we determine the cardiac regulation and biological activity of A20, an inhibitor of NF-κB signaling. Methods and Results— Mice were subjected to aortic banding, and A20 expression was examined. A20 mRNA upregulation (4.3±1.5-fold; P<0.05) was detected 3 hours after banding, coinciding with peak NF-κB activation. A20 was also upregulated in cultured neonatal cardiomyocytes stimulated with phenylephrine or endothelin-1 (2.8±0.6- and 4±1.1-fold, respectively; P<0.05), again paralleling NF-κB activation. Infection of cardiomyocytes with an adenoviral vector (Ad) encoding A20 inhibited tumor necrosis factor-α–stimulated NF-κB signaling with an efficacy comparable to dominant negative inhibitor of κ-B kinase β (dnIKKβ). Ad.dnIKKβ-infected cardiomyocytes exhibited increased apoptosis when they were serum starved or subjected to hypoxia-reoxygenation, whereas Ad.A20-infected cardiomyocytes did not. Expression of A...
Monte Carlo EM Estimation for Time Series Models Involving Counts

Abstract The observations in parameter-driven models for time series of counts are generated from latent unobservable processes that characterize the correlation structure. These models result in very complex likelihoods, and even the EM algorithm, which is usually well suited for problems of this type, involves high-dimensional integration. In this article we discuss a Monte Carlo EM (MCEM) algorithm that uses a Markov chain sampling technique in the calculation of the expectation in the E step of the EM algorithm. We propose a stopping criterion for the algorithm and provide rules for selecting the appropriate Monte Carlo sample size. We show that under suitable regularity conditions, an MCEM algorithm will, with high probability, get close to a maximizer of the likelihood of the observed data. We also discuss the asymptotic efficiency of the procedure. We illustrate our Monte Carlo estimation method on a time series involving small counts: the polio incidence time series previously analyzed by Zeger.