cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Advancing patient care through the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers (CEGIR)

Recent advances in rare disease research are accelerated by the work of consortia that have been supported by the National Institutes of Health. Development of such consortia rely on multidisciplinary relationships and engagement with patient advocacy groups, as well as the National Institutes of Health and industry and academic partners. In this rostrum we present the development of such a process that focuses on eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases. Principal investigators, patient advocacy groups, research assistants, and trainees work together to perform natural history studies that promote clinical trial readiness tools, conduct clinical trials, train a new generation of investigators, and perform innovative pilot studies.
21st Century Anthropology Scholarship: A Citation Analysis

A 2017 citation study looked at four scholarly anthropology journals in order to evaluate current research trends. This study examined the following journals: Current Anthropology, the American Ant...
Fairness with Continuous Optimal Transport.

Whilst optimal transport (OT) is increasingly being recognized as a powerful and flexible approach for dealing with fairness issues, current OT fairness methods are confined to the use of discrete OT. In this paper, we leverage recent advances from the OT literature to introduce a stochastic-gradient fairness method based on a dual formulation of continuous OT. We show that this method gives superior performance to discrete OT methods when little data is available to solve the OT problem, and similar performance otherwise. We also show that both continuous and discrete OT methods are able to continually adjust the model parameters to adapt to different levels of unfairness that might occur in real-world applications of ML systems.
Modified microstructures in proton irradiated dual phase 308L weldment filler material

Abstract The effect of proton irradiation on the microstructure of δ ferrite—γ austenite mixed phase 308L filler material in a 508–304 dissimilar metal weldment was investigated over a depth of 0 to 10 µm. Ni–Si–Mn G-phase precipitates were observed with SEM and TEM in δ ferrite but not in γ austenite. Our density functional theory based calculations show that the G/Fe interface energy in δ-Fe is significantly lower than that in γ-Fe (0.35 versus 1.25 J/m2), which provides a thermodynamics-based explanation for our experimental observations of preferential formation of G-phase in δ ferrite. STEM-EDS, TEM dark field imaging, and diffraction patterns confirmed the Ni–Si–Mn enriched precipitates were G-phase precipitates with a stoichiometry of Mn6Ni16Si7. Intragranular voids and Ni–Si enriched clusters were observed in irradiated γ austenite. Additionally, Ni and Si segregation was observed along the void interfaces. In both cases, Ni–Si clusters and segregation to voids, selected area diffraction patterns did not reveal the existence of a second phase. Proton irradiation induced Cr depletion and Si and Ni enrichment at γ−γ austenite grain boundaries that was characterized with STEM/EDS.
A Review of Cults and Personality

Cults, especially satanic cults, have sparked much interest in recent years. Cult leaders inspire morbid fascination. Concern is expressed for the followers, who may have been proselytized with subterfuge and induced to join with subtle coercion. When an innocent person with no interest in cults is victimized in a violent cultic ritual, the community reacts with horror and indignation. On the other hand, society values religious independence from the state and the individual's right to make personal choices. So many questions beg for answers, particularly regarding the interplay between cults and individual personalities. Regrettably, hard data are lacking because cultists, especially members of secret cults, elude investigative research and because serious researchers in sociology and psychology eschew mysticism and concentrate their efforts on more easily observed behaviors, both normal and abnormal.
Police officers' attitudes toward citizen support: Focus on individual, organizational and neighborhood characteristic factors

Purpose – The increased contact that police have with citizens that characterizes community policing makes mutual trust and respect between police and citizens crucial to success. Despite the importance of examining officers' perceptions of citizen trust and support, few studies have been conducted to examine officers' perspectives. The current research attempted to fill that void by examining the effects of individual, organizational and beat characteristic variables on officers' attitudes toward citizen support, using a sample of 434 Korean police officers.Design/methodology/approach – The current research attempted to fill that void by examining the effects of individual, organizational and beat characteristic variables on officers' attitudes toward citizen support, using a sample of 434 Korean police officers. The results of OLS regression analyses indicate that individual and organizational factors such as seniority and the level of the officers' assigned police department were significantly related ...
IN THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE

Excerpt "Where there is love of the art there also the love of man is"—Hippocrates As members of the medical profession, we are becoming increasingly conscious that all is not well in our house. Do...
On efficiency of optimization in fuzzy c-means

The efficiency of optimization in fuzzy c-means clustering is investigated. Numerous, powerful, general-purpose simultaneous optimization (SO) methods, and hybrid methods combining these and the most widely used alternating optimization (AO) method, are extensively tested for speed comparison. AO is clearly the best and simplest of the methods we tested when used on data sets of small or moderate sizes, especially those containing well-separated clusters. This justifies the extremely wide use of AO. On large-scale problems, some methods we tested are significantly faster than AO.
TupleRank: ranking discovered content in virtual databases

Recently, the problem of data integration has been newly addressed by methods based on machine learning and discovery. Such methods are intended to automate, at least in part, the laborious process of information integration, by which existing data sources are incorporated in a virtual database. Essentially, these methods scan new data sources, attempting to discover possible mappings to the virtual database. Like all discovery processes, this process is intrinsically probabilistic; that is, each discovery is associated with a specific value that denotes assurance of its appropriateness. Consequently, the rows in a discovered virtual table have mixed assurance levels, with some rows being more credible than others. We argue that rows in discovered virtual databases should be ranked, and we describe a ranking method, called TupleRank, for calculating such a ranking order. Roughly speaking, TupleRank calibrates the probabilities calculated during a discovery process with historical information about the performance of the system. The work is done in the framework of the Autoplex system for discovering content for virtual databases, and initial experimentation is reported and discussed.
Photofrin-mediated Photodynamic Therapy Induces Vascular Occlusion and Apoptosis in a Human Sarcoma Xenograft Model

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves light activation of a photosensitizer, resulting in oxygen-dependent, free radical-mediated cell death. Little is known about the efficacy of PDT in treating human sarcomas, despite an ongoing clinical trial treating i.p. sarcomatosis. The present study evaluates PDT treatment of a human sarcoma xenograft in nude mice and explores the mechanism of PDT-mediated antitumor effect. Athymic nude mice, 6–8 weeks of age, were s.c. injected with 5 × 106 cells of the A673 human sarcoma cell line. Tumors were allowed to grow to a diameter of about 10 mm. Photofrin (PF), 10 mg/kg, was injected by tail vein, and 24 h later, 630 nm light was delivered to the tumor with fluences of 50, 100, 150, or 300 J/cm2 at a fluence rate of 250 mW/cm2. To assess the efficacy of PDT in the treatment of sarcomas, photosensitizer uptake/retention studies and dose-response studies were performed. Studies carried out to determine the mechanism of tumor response included tumor temperature measurements before, during, and after treatment; tumor vascular perfusion studies with laser Doppler; electron microscopic analysis of tumor sections for vascular occlusion; and analysis of tumor cryosections for endothelial cell damage, apoptosis, and necrosis. At all time points of analysis, photosensitizer levels were greater in tumor than in muscle. Dose-response studies showed that at 100 J/cm2, five of six mice had a complete response to treatment, one of six had a partial response, and no deaths occurred. Temperature measurements indicated that thermal injury did not contribute to tumor response. Vascular perfusion studies demonstrated a significant reduction in blood flow as early as 6 h after PDT. Electron micrographs revealed erythrostasis in tumor microvessels starting as early as 2 h after treatment and complete occlusion of blood vessels by 12 h. Starting as early as 4 h after PDT, apoptosis first appeared in endothelial cells lining the occluded blood vessels and became more widespread at later time points. PDT is an effective treatment for this human sarcoma xenograft in nude mice. The mechanism of tumor destruction in this model appears to be vascular damage with initial apoptosis in tumor endothelial cells and delayed tumor cell apoptosis. This therapy may be valuable in the treatment of patients with sarcomatosis.
Subject-Matched Templates for Spatial Normalization

Spatial normalization of images from multiple subjects is a common problem in group comparison studies, such as voxel-based and deformation-based morphometric analyses. Use of a study-specific template for normalization may improve normalization accuracy over a study-independent standard template (Good et al., NeuroImage, 14(1):21-36, 2001). Here, we develop this approach further by introducing the concept of subject-matched templates. Rather than using a single template for the entire population, a different template is used for every subject, with the template matched to the subject in terms of age, sex, and potentially other parameters (e.g., disease). All subject-matched templates are created from a single generative regression model of atlas appearance, thus providing a priori template-to-template correspondence without registration. We demonstrate that such an approach is technically feasible and significantly improves spatial normalization accuracy over using a single template.
Bleeding from the eyes and through intact skin: physiologic, structural, spiritual, or faked?

Patients with an apparent bleeding disorder can usually be diagnosed by a careful history, physical examination, and screening laboratory tests. However, at times the constellation of bleeding signs and symptoms fail to be explained by test results and/or our current understanding of hemostatic mechanisms. One such patient is the subject of the current report. She is a 13-year-old female with a history of striking bleeding manifestations, including spontaneous hemorrhage from her eyes, scalp, hands, and feet. She was evaluated by one of the authors at a teaching hospital in Mumbai, India in March 2009 during the filming of a National Geographic Channel documentary characterizing puzzling medical disorders encountered in India. Given her unusual bleeding manifestations, she received international media attention at the time. National Geographic and a film company in the United Kingdom subsequently expressed interest in highlighting the patient to document her seemingly rare hematologic disorder and contacted the American Society of Hematology to identify an American hematologist to further investigate the case. With consent of the family and collaboration with a hematologist practicing at a teaching hospital in Mumbai, filming commenced during March 2009 in an attempt to capture the patient's diagnosis and the cultural and medical milieu in which the bleeding events occurred. Am. J. Hematol. 88:713–716, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A new cardiac variable identified

Women with suspected cardiac syndrome X (CSX) are difficult to diagnosis and treat by conventional means. The women’s ischemic syndrome evaluation (WISE) study, which started as an exploration of ischemic heart disease, increasingly focused on CSX, and two papers that represent an outgrowth and extension of this work are featured in this issue. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) can generate a myocardial perfusion reserve index (MPRI) that is shown to be lower in women with CSX compared to normal controls. The MPRI is a ratio of resting to vasodilatation myocardial perfusion uptake and is relatively easy to measure. There is growing evidence that the CMRI measured MPRI provides unique information that should be regarded as a primary indicator of CSX disease severity. The papers describe the low levels of MPRI in a well documented CSX all female patient population. The context of this work and its relationship to other findings is discussed with an emphasis on the unique information that CMRI can provide.
Sea-level rise: Ice-sheet uncertainty

Gravity measurements of the ice-mass loss in Greenland and Antarctica are complicated by glacial isostatic adjustment. Simultaneous estimates of both signals confirm the negative trends in ice-sheet mass balance, but not their magnitude.
An empirical investigation of the box-cox model and a nonlinear least squares alternative

In this paper we present a generalized functional form estimator, recently developed by jeffrey Wooldridge; and then we compare it empirically to the popular Box-Cox (BC) estimator using three data sets. We begin by briefly reviewing the drawbacks of the BC estimator. We Then introduce the nonlinear lest squares (NLS) alternative of Wooldridge which retains the desirable qualities of the BC estimator without the associated theoretical problems. We continue by applying both the BC and the NLS models to data from three classic hedonic regression studies and then compare the estimation resuts-point estimates, inferences and fitted values. The estimations include a wage rate equation, and two computer hedonic regression equations, one using data from a classic study by Gregory Chow and the other using an IBM data set that formed the basis of the new official BLS computer price index.
Separation of Dendrimer-Encapsulated Au and Ag Nanoparticles by Selective Extraction

A mixture of monometallic Ag and Au dendrimer-encapsulated nanoparticles (DENs) has been separated by selective extraction, which relies on sequential orthogonal assembly of different ligands onto the surface of the two metals. The DENs extract as monolayer-protected clusters (MPCs) that have the same size and optical properties as the original DENs.
Abstract 72: Amino terminus of SEPT9_i1 impacts cellular localization: Implications for mammary tumorigenesis

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Septins were first discovered in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as proteins essential for faithful cell division. They are highly conserved and found in all eukaryotes with the exception of plants. One septin, SEPT9, was cloned from a region of allelic imbalance in breast and ovarian cancers on chromosome 17q25. Further analysis showed that SEPT9 encoded multiple protein isoforms. Retroviral expression of one isoform, SEPT9\_i1, promoted oncogenic phenotypes including, increased cell proliferation, invasion, motility, and genomic instability in mammary epithelial cells. In addition, abnormal nuclear localization of SEPT9\_i1 was observed. SEPT9\_i1 is highly expressed in many cancers including, breast, ovarian, prostate, and head and neck. SEPT9\_i1 differs from other SEPT9 isoforms by 25 unique amino acids at the N terminus. SEPT9\_i3, which lacks these 25 amino acids, does not exhibit the same pro-oncogenic phenotypes associated with SEPT9\_i1. The goal of this study is to determine the functional relevance of these amino acids with respect to cellular localization as well as phenotypes related to mammary tumorigenesis and metastasis. First, bioinformatic analysis revealed a bipartite nuclear localization signal within the 25 unique amino acids but no other recognized functional domains. To determine the effects of these 25 amino acids on nuclear localization, FLAG-tagged deletion (ΔN)-SEPT9\_i1, full-length (FL) -SEPT9\_i1, and empty vector control constructs were transiently transfected into two immortalized human mammary epithelial cell lines, HME and MCF-10a. Immunofluorescence analyses of FL-SEPT9\_i1 and ΔN-SEPT9\_i1 localization revealed a dramatic decrease in the amount of SEPT9\_i1 localized to the nucleus in the ΔN-SEPT9\_i1 versus FL- SEPT9\_i1 lines. Stably expressing FL-SEPT9\_i1 and ΔN-SEPT9\_i1 HS578t cell lines were also generated using nucleofection for examination of the effects of ΔN-SEPT9\_i1 on cellular phenotypes including cell proliferation, cell motility and invasion. We present data indicating that the deletion of the N terminal 25 amino acids decreases cell motility and invasion as compared to SEPT9\_i1 in HS578t cells. In addition, we show increased cell proliferation in cells expressing ΔN-SEPT9\_i1 as compared to both EV and SEPT9\_i1. To date our results implicate an oncogenic role for high SEPT9\_i1 in mammary tumorigenesis where the unique 25 amino acids of SEPT9_i1 may impact tumorigenesis. Further investigation could provide valuable insight into developing targeted chemotherapeutic agents. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 72. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-72
American economic policy in the Philippines, 1902–1940: Exploring a dark age in colonial statistics

Abstract This paper presents a detailed estimate of GDP for the Philippines from 1902 to 1940, and analyses factors accounting for changes in growth rates during that era. A crash program in agricultural modernization produced a doubling of rice and corn yields between 1910 and the late 1920s. As a result, the Philippine GDP growth rate in the first two decades outstripped all other nations in East and Southeast Asia. However fiscal constraints appeared by the late 1920s, causing this and other infrastructure projects to be curtailed. An overvalued peso emerged after 1930 and this, alongside a slowdown in productivity caused the rate of Philippine GDP growth to fall behind that of neighboring countries including Japan, Korea and Taiwan. These developments in the later years of the colonial period seriously compromised the transition to economic independence in 1946.
Cardiac-selective expression of extracellular superoxide dismutase after systemic injection of adeno-associated virus 9 protects the heart against post-myocardial infarction left ventricular remodeling.

Background— Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging has not been used previously to document the attenuation of left ventricular (LV) remodeling after systemic gene delivery. We hypothesized that targeted expression of extracellular superoxide dismutase (EcSOD) via the cardiac troponin-T promoter would protect the mouse heart against both myocardial infarction (MI) and subsequent LV remodeling. Methods and Results— Using reporter genes, we first compared the specificity, time course, magnitude, and distribution of gene expression from adeno-associated virus (AAV) 1, 2, 6, 8, and 9 after intravenous injection. The troponin-T promoter restricted gene expression largely to the heart for all AAV serotypes tested. AAV1, 6, 8, and 9 provided early-onset gene expression that approached steady-state levels within 2 weeks. Gene expression was highest with AAV9, which required only 3.15×1011 viral genomes per mouse to achieve an 84% transduction rate. AAV9-mediated, cardiac-selective gene expression elevated EcSOD enzyme activity in heart by 5.6-fold ( P =0.015), which helped protect the heart against both acute MI and subsequent LV remodeling. In acute MI, infarct size in EcSOD-treated mice was reduced by 40% compared with controls ( P =0.035). In addition, we found that cardiac-selective expression of EcSOD increased myocardial capillary fractional area and decreased neutrophil infiltration after MI. In a separate study of LV remodeling, after a 60-minute coronary occlusion, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed that LV volumes at days 7 and 28 post-MI were significantly lower in the EcSOD group compared with controls. Conclusions— Cardiac-selective expression of EcSOD from the cardiac troponin-T promoter after systemic administration of AAV9 provides significant protection against both acute MI and LV remodeling.
Analysis of a genetic recognition system in wild house mice.

Wild female house mice have strong preferences for odors of male mice whose t-complex genotype is +/+ rather than for males carrying deleterious mutations (+/t) at the t complex. In this review of a large number of studies examining the basis for this preference, we suggest the following: first, preferences of +/+ females are greatly influenced by environmental factors and probably do not have a large genetic component: second, preferences of +/t females are less dependent upon environmental factors and hence may have a strong genetic component: third, the lethal factors within the t complex are involved in both the production of the cue by males and the expression of the preference in females: and fourth, there may be a second gene or genes within the t complex involved in the expression of female preference.
Hydrologic Effects of Urbanization and Climate Change on the Flint River Basin, Georgia

AbstractThe potential effects of long-term urbanization and climate change on the freshwater resources of the Flint River basin were examined by using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS). PRMS is a deterministic, distributed-parameter watershed model developed to evaluate the effects of various combinations of precipitation, temperature, and land cover on streamflow and multiple intermediate hydrologic states. Precipitation and temperature output from five general circulation models (GCMs) using one current and three future climate-change scenarios were statistically downscaled for input into PRMS. Projections of urbanization through 2050 derived for the Flint River basin by the Forecasting Scenarios of Future Land-Cover (FORE-SCE) land-cover change model were also used as input to PRMS. Comparison of the central tendency of streamflow simulated based on the three climate-change scenarios showed a slight decrease in overall streamflow relative to simulations under current conditions, mostly ca...
Reasoning with heuristics and induction: An account based on the CLARION cognitive architecture

Some psychologists have criticized computational cognitive architectures on the basis of model complexity and parameter tweaking. This paper addresses these criticisms by using a well established cognitive architecture, CLARION, and extracting its core theory to explain a wide range of reasoning (and other) data. The resulting model provides principled, almost parameter-free explanations for psychological “laws” of plausible reasoning. This paper concludes with a discussion of the implication of this approach for cognitive science and psychology.
Cytokine gene expression in ileal tissues of cattle infected with Mycobacterium paratuberculosis.

Abstract Cytokine gene expression in ileal tissues of cattle infected with Mycobacterium paratuberculosis was evaluated. The effects of infection with M. paratuberculosis on cytokine production may influence immune regulation at the site of colonization, resulting in the chronic inflammatory state associated with the latter stages of this disease. Ileal samples were obtained at necropsy from noninfected control cows (n=8) and clinically infected cows (n=7) and processed for immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Cows infected with M. paratuberculosis were in the latter stages of disease with clinical signs such as weight loss, watery diarrhea, and inappetence. Among cytokines we studied, interleukin-1α (IL-1α), IL-1β, IL-6, and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were expressed significantly more in infected animals than in noninfected control animals. The expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), however, was not different between the two groups of cattle. In addition, immunohistochemical staining demonstrated that the number of resident macrophages in the ileum of infected animals was three times greater than that of noninfected cows. In contrast to this, ileal tissues from noninfected control animals contained 1.5 times more neutrophils than the ileal tissues from cows infected with M. paratuberculosis. These data demonstrate that localized ileal cytokine production is different between cows chronically infected with M. paratuberculosis and noninfected control cows.
Amine excretion in excysted larvae and adults of Trichinella spiralis.

Abstract 1. 1. Larval and adult stages of Trichinella spiralis excreted methyl-, ethyl-, n -propyl-, n -butyl-, n -pentyl-, n -hexyl and n-heptylamine, ethylenediamine, 1,5-pentanediamine, isopropylamine, sec-butylamine, isobutylamine and monoethanolamine when incubated in vitro . 2. 2. Amines were isolated by continuous ether extraction of the incubation media and identified using gas-liquid and thin-layer chromatographic techniques. 3. 3. Adults produced three times as much amine nitrogen/mg dry weight as larvae. 4. 4. Excretion of amines may enable the parasite to adapt to potentially adverse alterations which develop in its tissue microenvironment.
Agonism, ranking, and the social behavior of adult male baboons

An ingrained technique in primatological analysis is to rank individual animals in a hierarchical system that is usually but not always based on the outcome of agonistic encounters. An explication of group structre and function is then sought by correlation these rankings with aspects of behavior. When the behavior of the adult males in a free-ranging troop of olive baboons is examined, ranking is found to be inadequate to represent the behavioral variability existing between individuals. The relationships maintained by these animals is analyzed, emphasizing amounts of time devoted to specific activities, and it is recommended that affiliative rather than agonistic behavior be stressed in future studies.
Differential Oxidative Metabolism and 5-Ketoclomazone Accumulation Are Involved in Echinochloa phyllopogon Resistance to Clomazone

Echinochloa phyllopogon (late watergrass) is a major weed of California rice (Oryza sativa) that has evolved cytochrome P450-mediated metabolic resistance to different herbicides with multiple modes of action. E. phyllopogon populations from Sacramento Valley rice fields have also recently shown resistance to the herbicide clomazone. Clomazone is a proherbicide that must be metabolized to 5-ketoclomazone, which is the active compound that inhibits deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate synthase, a key enzyme of the nonmevalonate isoprenoid pathway. This study evaluated the differential clomazone metabolism within strains of the same species to investigate whether enhanced oxidative metabolism also confers clomazone resistance in E. phyllopogon. Using reverse-phase liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry techniques in the multireaction monitoring mode, we elucidated that oxidative biotransformations are involved as a mechanism of clomazone resistance in this species. E. phyllopogon plants hydroxylated mostly the isoxazolidinone ring of clomazone, and clomazone hydroxylation activity was greater in resistant than in susceptible plants. The major clomazone metabolites resulted from monohydroxylation and dihydroxylation of the isoxazolidinone ring. Resistant plants accumulated 6- to 12-fold more of the monohydroxylated metabolite than susceptible plants, while susceptible plants accumulated 2.5-fold more of the phytotoxic metabolite of clomazone, 5-ketoclomazone. Our results demonstrate that oxidative metabolism endows multiple-herbicide-resistant E. phyllopogon with cross-resistance to clomazone through enhanced herbicide degradation and lower accumulation of the toxic metabolite in resistant versus susceptible plants.
Psychological Conflict and Human Nature: The Case of Behaviourism and Cognition*

A reasonable choice between Skinner's and Chomsky's theories requires reference to a conception of human nature. It is explained in detail why this is so, in the context of an analysis of what it is to ‘choose’ a theory. This account helps to explain the unity and coherence of the science, methodology, conception of science, object of scientific inquiry and views towards control of each of Skinner and Chomsky, and thereby explains the chasm which separates the parties to their respective programs. The analysis given implies that, in a precise sense, the theory-choice is implicated in value-judgments.
Crossed-Molecular beam studies of the state-to-state reaction dynamics of charge transfer at low and intermediate energy

The microscopic, state-to-state reaction dynamics of charge transfer reactions are reviewed for the two system N(N2, N2)N and Ar+(N2, Ar)N. The crossed molecular beam method demonstrates that the symmetric, molecular case proceeds by two mechanisms at low collision energy ( 10 eV). The orbiting mechanism is dominant at low energies and disappears entirely with increasing collision energy. The unsymmetric, nearly resonant charge transfer reaction is direct at all energies. At very low collision energy (0.6 eV) and moderate collision energy (> 1.5 eV) the dominant reaction channel is the generation of N2+(X2 g, v = 1) with little rotational excitation. At 0.6 eV substantial angular scattering (including back-scattering) is observed; above 1.5 eV the trajectories are essentially rectilinear. At intermediate energies (0.8 < E < 1.3 eV) a very different mechanism is observed. All the energetically accessible vibrational states of N are formed, each with a preferred scattering angle at a given energy. Related experiments and theoretical models which rationalize some, but not all, of these results are described. The most intriguing puzzle is the “energy window” in which quantum-state specific, angular-specific reactive scattering is observed.
A study of the presence of evolutionary protoconcepts in pre-high school textbooks

Abstract Elementary and middle school science texts were analyzed for the presence of evolutionary protoconcepts, which are defined as topics that prepare students to study evolution in later years. Elementary and middle school texts were content-analyzed for protoconcepts in both life science and earth science. Seventeen concepts considered important for student understanding of evolution were gleaned from the misconception literature and used to review the life science texts. Concepts used to analyze other texts were chosen by exploring all texts used in the analysis for any topics that might qualify as evolutionary protoconcepts, thus generating grounded theory. Coverage of evolutionary protoconcepts varies considerably among published textbooks. We recommend using this analysis when considering textbooks for adoption and for supplementing texts currently in use. We also recommended this type of analysis of textbooks for inclusion of other topics of interest to science education research.
SPECSweb tracking on a large, simulated multistatic field of the MSTWG

Effective fusion and tracking of multistatic active sonar contacts is challenging, due to high levels of false alarm clutter present on all sonar nodes. Such false alarms often overload the sensor-to-fusion-center communications links and fusion/tracking processes, producing too many false tracks. The Specular-Cued Surveillance Web (SPECSweb) multistatic tracker mitigates these problems by allowing track initiation to occur only when high-strength specular target detections are identified. Using these “specular” cues, and subsequent track state estimates, a selective data retrieval approach is used which significantly reduces the data rate at the input to the fusion/tracking algorithm, and reduces node to fusion-center communication link throughput requirements. This paper provides performance results of this tracking algorithm on a simulated multistatic data set from the Multistatic Tracking Working Group (MSTWG). The data set simulates a large multistatic field, and is characterized by low probability of detection (PD), high false alarm rate (FAR), and high measurement errors. The impacts of these challenging conditions on tracker performance are explained, including the degradation of association gating with large error in bearing measurements.
Ecological considerations in victim reporting to the police

Abstract A review of recent criminological literature suggests that different systems of social control operate across the urban-rural dimension. Specifically, it is expected that victims in urban areas will report crimes to the police at a higher rate than victims in surburban and rural areas. Moreover, it is anticipated that urban, suburban, and rural victims will have different reasons for not reporting the crime. In this paper these issues are examined empirically using the National Crime Survey victimization data. These data show that, contrary to theoretical expectations, the extent of victim reporting does not vary across the urban-rural dimension for the crimes of rape, robbery, assault, and personal larceny. Characteristics of the offense, notably seriousness, are shown to be more important in victim reporting than the extent of urbanization. In addition, these data indicate that victim residence in conjunction with type of crime and victim-offender relationship has an influence on the reasons selected by victims for not reporting the crime to the police.
Daily torpor in Peromyscus leucopus on an adequate diet.

Abstract 1. 1. Seventeen mice were tested for the occurrence of torpor in the presence of excess food over periods of 6–30 days at ambient temperatures of 13-12°C. 2. 2. Seven animals displayed regularly torpor, and four displayed sporadic episodes of torpor. Body temperatures in mice showing regular daily torpor ranged from 16.8 to 27.7°C, and metabolic rates remained below 2.0 cm3 O2/g per hr for an average of 4.3–12.7 hr/day in various individuals. 3. 3. It is estimated that episodes of torpor in the laboratory environment resulted in energetic savings of 440–1900 cal in animals showing regular daily torpor.
Absolute broadband calibration procedure for infrared heterodyne receivers.

A dual-channel low-noise heterodyne receiver is presented as part of a development effort to build a carbon dioxide laser-based Thomson scattering alpha particle diagnostic for a burning plasma experiment./aip/
Changes in social support and their impact on psychosocial outcome over a 5-year period for African American and White dementia caregivers.

Background African Americans have been found to be more resilient to the caregiving role than Whites. Amount of social support and satisfaction with social support were studied as possible explanations for these racial differences. Methods Family caregivers of patients diagnosed as having dementia participated in a longitudinal study. There were 166 caregiver-patient dyads enrolled and annual follow-up assessments were completed. Linear random effects regression models examined the longitudinal trajectories of social support, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction over 5 years of community follow-up. Social support was also included as a time-dependent predictor of depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Results The number of helpful support persons available decreased significantly for both racial groups. African American caregivers reported more satisfaction with their social support networks than Whites. They also reported fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of life satisfaction when compared to their White counterparts. Higher levels of satisfaction with social support were associated with fewer depressive symptoms and increased levels of life satisfaction and explained a portion of the racial differences on these measures of psychosocial outcome. Conclusions The resilience of African American caregivers, as displayed by their fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of life satisfaction, was partially explained by their higher levels of satisfaction with social support. Results suggest that health care providers should view low levels of social support as a possible precursor to poor psychological outcomes in caregivers. Future research should focus on social support and cultural variables that might explain racial differences in caregiver outcomes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tetralogy of Fallot: aorto-pulmonary collaterals and pulmonary arteries have distinctly different transcriptomes

Tetralogy of Fallot: aorto-pulmonary collaterals and pulmonary arteries have distinctly different transcriptomes
Why Proteasome Inhibitors Cannot ERADicate Multiple Myeloma

Proteasome inhibitors are key parts of our armamentarium against multiple myeloma, but the disease can become resistant through poorly defined mechanisms. In this issue of Cancer Cell , Leung-Hagesteijn and colleagues describe XBP1s − subpopulations of tumor cells that are resistant to bortezomib and may account for therapeutic failures in the clinic.
A Systemic Approach to Accelerating Entrepreneurship

when the passage of the Bayh/Dole Act, which allowed research institutions to license inventions coming out of federally funded grants, and the creation of the Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) program helped unleash an unprecedented era of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country. It is clear that the larger environment in which entrepreneurial enterprises emerge is critically important to the incubation, growth, and sustainability of wealthand job-creating companies. We have a long history in this country of celebrating heroes, pioneers, and individual entrepreneurs, based on our deep belief in the power of the individual over his or her environment. However, increasing evidence suggests that environment, timing, and support can either enable or inhibit individual achievements, including successful entrepreneurship. The 21-century environment for innovation and entrepreneurship has become globally interdependent in terms of inventions, innovations, markets, production, and talent. Discretionary resources are dispersed, rather than being concentrated in the hands of a few individuals or companies. Thus, many of the policies and practices vis-a-vis incentivizing and accelerating entrepreneurship in the 1980s may be insufficient for the challenges of the 21 century. It may be time to rethink what it takes to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship in a global knowledge economy. My experience working in a community that completely reinvented itself over a 30-year period suggests that accelerating entrepreneurship is as much about community transformation as it is about helping individual entrepreneurs. Enhancing community capacity as it simultaneously supported entrepreneurs was at the core of San Diego’s strategy, especially the University of California, San Diego’s innovative CONNECT organization, which was created to be a catalyst for technology entrepreneurship. Started in 1984, just as the larger environment that enabled more localized innovation and entrepreneurship was unleashed by less restrictive intellectual property and financial policies, CONNECT began with an
Confinement effects on monosaccharide transport in nanochannels.

Transport theories based on the continuum hypothesis may not be appropriate at the nanoscale in view of surface effects. We employed molecular dynamics simulations to study the effects of confinement and concentration on diffusive transport of glucose in silica nanochannels (10 nm or smaller). We found that glucose modifies the electrical properties of nanochannels and that, below 5 nm in channel height, glucose adsorption and diffusivity are significantly reduced. With increasing concentration, the diffusivity is reduced linearly in the bulk, while it is reduced nonlinearly at the interface. The effective diffusivity reduction is related to the interface thickness, which can be 2−4 nm depending on concentration, and has an unexpected reduction at low concentrations. Results suggest that nanochannels present a one-dimensional cage environment that affects diffusivity in a fashion similar to cage-breaking diffusion. Our simulation results, consistent with the experimental observations presented here, sugge...
Newly identified prions in budding yeast, and their possible functions

Yeast prions are atypical genetic elements that are transmitted as heritable protein conformations. [PSI+], [URE3], and [PIN+] are three well-studied prions in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the last three years, several additional prions have been reported in yeast, including [SWI+], [OCT+], [MCA], [GAR+], [MOT3+], [ISP+], and [NSI+]. The growing number of yeast prions suggests that protein-based inheritance might be a widespread biological phenomenon. In this review, we summarize the characteristics of each prion element, and discuss their potential functional roles in yeast biology.
AMELIORATION OF INSULIN RESISTANCE IN STREPTOZOTOCIN DIABETIC MICE BY TRANSGENIC OVEREXPRESSION OF GLUT4 DRIVEN BY AN ADIPOSE-SPECIFIC PROMOTER

In diabetic rodents and humans, glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) expression is suppressed in adipocytes in association with insulin resistance. Transgenic mice overexpressing GLUT4 selectively in fat have enhanced glucose disposal in vivo and massively increased glucose transport in adipocytes. To determine whether overexpression can be maintained in diabetes and whether it can prevent insulin resistance, we rendered wild-type and transgenic mice diabetic with streptozotocin. After 12-14 days, blood glucose was more than 21.4 mM and plasma insulin was 1.06 ng/ml or less in both diabetic groups in the fed state. Body weight was reduced and gonadal fat pad weight and adipocyte size were 52-75% smaller in both nontransgenic and transgenic diabetic mice, compared with nondiabetic. Basal and maximally-stimulated rates of lipolysis were similar in adipocytes from nontransgenic and transgenic mice, but the ED50 for isoproterenol stimulation was 50% lower in transgenic mice. There was no difference in the sensitivity to insulin to inhibit lipolysis. In adipocytes of nontransgenic diabetic mice, GLUT4 protein was reduced 34%, with a 46% reduction in insulin stimulated glucose transport. In contrast, in adipocytes of transgenic diabetic mice, GLUT4 remained 21-fold overexpressed, resulting in 21-fold increased basal and 10-fold increased insulin stimulated glucose transport. Injection of insulin (0.7 mU/g BW) resulted in a 35% decrease in blood glucose in transgenic diabetic mice (P < 0.05), with no effect in nontransgenic diabetic mice. Thus, high-level overexpression of GLUT4 driven by a fat specific promoter can be maintained with insulinopenic diabetes, even when fat cell metabolism is markedly altered. Overexpression of GLUT4 in adipocytes prevents insulin resistant glucose transport at the cellular level and improves insulin action in vivo, even with overt diabetes.
Case-control studies of cancer in Illinois farmers using data from the Illinois State Cancer Registry and the U.S. Census of Agriculture.

A series of case-control studies have been carried out to compare farmers reported to the Illinois State Cancer Registry (ISCR) with other males reported to the ISCR between 1986 and 1988. Data on the number of farms in each Illinois county producing given agricultural commodities were obtained from the United States Census of Agriculture and used as surrogate exposure indicators. Employment as a farmer was found to be associated with cancer of the eye [odds ratio (OR) = 6.49, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.78, 23.71], lip (OR = 4.42, 95% CI = 2.46, 7.94), prostate (OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 0.99, 1.35) and leukaemia (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.01, 2.25). Wheat and soybean production were found to be positively associated with leukaemia. Hay and beef production were found to be positively associated with cancer of the prostate.
A neutrophil chemotactic factor present in H. pylori but absent in H. mustelae

This study was designed to compare the capabilities ofHelicobacter pylori andHelicobacter mustelae to generate neutrophil chemotactic activity (NCA)in vitro. H. pylori andH. mustelae were grown in parallel cultures under identical conditions. The cultures were washed and transferred to saline solution for 3 hr to avoid detecting nonspecific chemotactic activity from culture media. Supernatants were subjected to size-exclusion HPLC. All peaks from HPLC were collected and assayed for NCA. Peaks having significant NCA were subjected to gel electrophoresis.H. pylori generated 85.9±1.7% NCA compared to only 41.6±2.5% forH. mustelae (P<0.001). The HPLC peak containing the highest NCA fromH. pylori revealed a band on gel electrophoresis at approximately 10.5 kDa. This band was not present on gels fromH. mustelae. We conclude thatH. pylori produces a neutrophil chemotactic factor lacking fromH. mustelae. This offers an explanation for the histologic difference between gastritides caused by these organisms.
The quantitative analysis of sphingolipids by determination of long chain base as the trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid derivative

A spectrophotometric procedure has been developed for the determination of microquantities of sphingolipids. The assay system involved includes the methanolysis of the fatty acid moiety of the sphingolipid with boron trifluoride in methanol to yield a long chain base containing a free amino group. The long chain amine, sphingosine, is then extracted into an organic phase and reacted with aqueous trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid to yield a product with an absorption maximum at 340 mμ. Lipid peroxidation products and silicic acid do not seriously interfere in the 340 region. A wide variety of pure sphingolipids yielded equivalent optical densities per mole of sphingolipid. Sphingolipids assayed included cerebroside, cerebroside sulfate, ganglioside and sphingomyelin.
Amiloride stimulation of sodium transport in the presence of calcium and a divalent cation chelator

Abstract Amiloride in nM to μM concentrations stimulates the short circuit current ( I sc ) of the toad urinary bladder by as much as 120% when applied in conjunction with apical Ca2+ and a divalent cation chelator. A significant decrease in transepithelial resistance ( R t ) is observed simultaneously. This response is spontaneously reversible and its amplitude is dependent upon apical sodium concentrations. The stimulated I sc persisted when acetazolamide (1 mM) was introduced, HPO42− substituted for HCO3− or SO42− replaced Cl−. Consequently, the increase in I sc is not due to the change of Cl−, H+ or HCO3− flux. This behavior in a ‘tight’ epithelium may be related to the mechanism controlling apical sodium permeability.