cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Molecular mechanisms of ethylene signaling in Arabidopsis

Ethylene is a gaseous plant hormone involved in several important physiological processes throughout a plant's life cycle. Decades of scientific research devoted to deciphering how plants are able to sense and respond to this key molecule have culminated in the establishment of one of the best characterized signal transduction pathways in plants. The ethylene signaling pathway starts with the perception of this gaseous hormone by a family of membrane-anchored receptors followed by a Raf-like kinase CTR1 that is physically associated with the receptors and actively inhibits downstream components of the pathway. A major gap is represented by the mysterious plant protein EIN2 that genetically works downstream of CTR1 and upstream of the key transcription factor EIN3. Transcriptional regulation by EIN3 and EIN3-family members has emerged as a key aspect of ethylene responses. The major components of this transcriptional cascade have been characterized and the involvement of post-transcriptional control by ubiquitination has been determined. Nevertheless, many aspects of this pathway still remain unknown. Recent genomic studies aiming to provide a more comprehensive view of modulation of gene expression have further emphasized the ample role of ethylene in a myriad of cellular processes and particularly in its crosstalk with other important plant hormones. This review aims to serve as a guide to the main scientific discoveries that have shaped the field of ethylene biology in the recent years.
Collaborative supply‐chain partnerships built upon trust and electronically mediated exchange

Purpose – To investigate how supply‐chain partners can achieve collaboration under varying circumstances (transactional types) by developing trust‐based social foundations and by utilizing electronically mediated exchange.Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual framework illustrates the roles of trust and electronically mediated exchange in achieving collaboration and its hypotheses are tested with a sample of 157 supply‐chain relationships of international subsidiaries of Nordic multinational corporations (MNCs).Findings – Finds that collaborative partnerships can be achieved both via trust and through electronically mediated exchange. Results also indicate that electronically mediated exchange more readily enhances collaboration in exchange relationships involving standardized products, while trust plays a larger role when customized products are being exchanged.Research limitations/implications – The transactional type involved impacts the relative effectiveness of trust and electronically mediated ...
Enhancement of heterotopic cardiac allograft survival by experimental biliary ligation.

Experiences sur rats. La survie de cœurs transplantes heterotopiques incompatibles est de 5 a 7 j chez les temoins et de 5 a 20 j chez les rats soumis a la ligature des voies biliaires. La stase biliaire perturbe la fonction des cellules T responsables du rejet
Dissociability and tRNA content of monosomes produced by dimethylnitrosamine and starvation.

DIMETHYLNITROSAMINE is an hepatotoxic agent which disaggregates liver polysomes into monosomes1,2. Previous investigations have suggested that polysome disaggregation results from alkylation and subsequent fragmentation of mRNA in polysomes3, producing complexed ribosomes. But, fragmentation has been ruled out by the findings that monosomes produced by dimethylnitrosamine dissociate into subunits in solutions containing high concentrations of KCl4,5 and that pretreatment of animals with cycloheximide prevents polysome disaggregation by dimethylnitrosamine6. In bacteria the single ribosome population contains both complexed and runoff ribosomes which can be distinguished by their dissociability7 and tRNA content8. Therefore, we have compared these properties in monosomes produced by dimethylnitrosamine and by starvation, to determine whether they are runoff ribosomes. Our results show that in spite of their similar dissociability, monosomes produced by dimethylnitrosamine and starvation differ in tRNA content.
High-resolution local field spectroscopy with internuclear correlations.

Abstract Establishing correlations among distant (>3 A) spins remains an outstanding problem for both spectral assignment and elucidation of interhelical contacts in solid-state NMR of oriented membrane proteins. Here we present a pulse sequence which incorporates the previously established mismatched Hartmann–Hahn mixing of dilute spins via the proton bath together with high-resolution local field spectroscopy. In addition to providing structural information, the use of dipolar couplings in the indirect dimension helps eliminate the spectral crowdedness compared to the standard homonuclear correlation techniques. The proposed pulse sequence may find its use in assigning protein spectra in uniaxially oriented membrane environments.
Spear Development in Ditylenchus Destructor Thorne 1 )

Development of a micro-observation chamber has made possible direct observation of spear formation in specimens of Ditylenchus destructor at magnifications up to 1025 X. The spear originates from a primordial region distinguishable by its transparency and the presence of three cutinized rings around the old spear shaft early in molt. The spear apex develops progressively from the upper ring and the basal portion forms first within the lower rings and develops posteriorly. The spear apparently is built up from materials produced within the primordium.
Visual attention and target detection in cluttered natural scenes

Rather than attempting to fully interpret visual scenes in a parallel fashion, biological systems appear to employ a serial strategy by which an attentional spotlight rapidly selects circumscribed regions in the scene for further analysis. The spatiotemporal deployment of attention has been shown to be controlled by both bottom-up (image-based) and top-down (volitional) cues. We describe a detailed neuromimetic computer implementation of a bottom-up scheme for the control of visual attention, focusing on the problem of combining information across modalities (orientation, intensity, and color information) in a purely stimulusdriven manner. We have applied this model to a wide range of target detection tasks, using synthetic and natural stimuli. Performance has, however, remained difficult to objectively evaluate on natural scenes, because no objective reference was available for comparison. We present predicted search times for our model on the Search–2 database of rural scenes containing a military vehicle. Overall, we found a poor correlation between human and model search times. Further analysis, however, revealed that in 75% of the images, the model appeared to detect the target faster than humans (for comparison, we calibrated the model’s arbitrary internal time frame such that 2 to 4 image locations were visited per second). It seems that this model, which had originally been designed not to find small, hidden military vehicles, but rather to find the few most obviously conspicuous objects in an image, performed as an efficient target detector on the Search–2 dataset. Further developments of the model are finally explored, in particular through a more formal treatment of the difficult problem of extracting suitable low-level features to be fed into the saliency map.
Ryanodine receptor and capacitative Ca2+ entry in fresh preglomerular vascular smooth muscle cells.

Ryanodine receptor and capacitative Ca 2+ entry in fresh preglomerular vascular smooth muscle cells. Background A multiplicity of hormonal, neural, and paracrine factors regulates preglomerular arterial tone by stimulating calcium entry or mobilization. We have previously provided evidence for capacitative (store-operated) Ca 2+ entry in fresh renal vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Ryanodine-sensitive receptors (RyRs) have recently been identified in a variety of nonrenal vascular beds. Methods We isolated fresh rat preglomerular VSMCs with a magnetized microsphere/sieving technique; cytosolic Ca 2+ ([Ca 2+ ] i ) was measured with fura-2 ratiometric fluorescence. Results Ryanodine (3 μmol/L) increased [Ca 2+ ] i from 79 to 138 nmol/L ( P = 0.01). Nifedipine (Nif), given before or after ryanodine, was without effect. The addition of calcium (1 mmol/L) to VSMCs in calcium-free buffer did not alter resting [Ca 2+ ] i . In Ca-free buffer containing Nif, [Ca 2+ ] i rose from 61 to 88 nmol/L after the addition of the Ca 2+ -ATPase inhibitor cyclopiazonic acid and to 159 nmol/L after the addition of Ca 2+ (1 mmol/L). Mn 2+ quenched the Ca/fura signal, confirming divalent cation entry. In Ca-free buffer with Nif, [Ca 2+ ] i increased from 80 to 94 nmol/L with the addition of ryanodine and further to 166 nmol/L after the addition of Ca 2+ (1 mmol/L). Mn 2+ quenching was again shown. Thus, emptying of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) with ryanodine stimulated capacitative Ca 2+ entry. Conclusion Preglomerular VSMCs have functional RyR, and a capacitative (store-operated) entry mechanism is activated by the depletion of SR Ca 2+ with ryanodine, as is the case with inhibitors of SR Ca 2+ -ATPase.
Necrotizing Enterocolitis Among Neonates in the United States

BACKGROUND: Prior studies have identified individual risk factors that are associated with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC); however, the small sample sizes of these previous studies have not allowed the analysis of potential interaction between multiple variables and NEC. Our purpose was to describe the incidence and risk factors for NEC in premature neonates admitted for intensive care. METHODS: We identified neonates as having NEC if they met accepted diagnostic criterion for necrotizing enterocolitis. Using a national database, we assessed the association between NEC and a battery of risk factors previously reported in peer-reviewed literature. RESULTS: There were 15,072 neonates that met inclusion criteria; 14,682 did not have NEC, while 390 (2.6%) met criterion for NEC. Multivariate analysis showed that low birth weight was the most important risk factor for NEC. Other factors that were associated with an increased risk of NEC were exposure to antenatal glucocorticoids, vaginal delivery, need for mechanical ventilator support, exposure to both glucocorticoids and indomethacin during the first week of life, absence of an umbilical arterial catheter, and low Apgar score at 5 minutes. Length of hospital stay and mortality were higher in neonates with NEC than in neonates without NEC. CONCLUSIONS: NEC remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in prematurely born neonates. In contrast to previous studies, we found that exposure to antenatal glucocorticoids was associated with an increased risk for NEC independent of birth weight.
Injury patterns in women's intramural flag football

A prospective study of women's flag football injuries was carried out over a 4 year period at Mississippi State University. Data was gathered on 114 injuries. Organized intramural flag football activities caused 93% of the injuries observed (7% were injured in pick-up games). The finger accounted for 39%, knee for 16%, and ankle for 8% of these injuries. The type of injury was closely distributed among sprains, fractures, contusions, and strains. Collisions, with other players and objects, resulted in 64% of these injuries. Offensive ball handlers (running backs and receivers) had the greatest probability of being injured. From this data, it is obvious that women's injury patterns are not the same as men's and that varsity injury data cannot be extrapolated to recreational injuries.
Fetal clavicle length throughout gestation: a nomogram.

Objective To create a nomogram of fetal clavicle length (CL) throughout gestation. Methods Cross-sectional study of patients between 14 and 42 weeks' gestation. Inclusion criteria consisted of well-established dates (consistent with early ultrasound), singleton, non-anomalous fetuses, and intact amniotic membranes. Sonographic measurements included biparietal diameter (BPD), head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), femur length (FL), humerus length (HL) and sonographically estimated fetal weight (SEFW). For every case, the average of three separate measurements of the CL was used. The 5th, 50th and 95th centiles were obtained by least squares regression. Pearson's correlation coefficient and associated P-values for the relationships between CL and other biometric measurements were calculated. The data were compared to a nomogram of the CL generated in 1985 from the measurement of 85 fetuses. Results A total of 623 consecutive patients were studied. In all but three cases, CL was successfully measured. Mean maternal age was 27.7 ± 6.2 years, median gravidity 3 (range, 1–14) and median parity 1 (range, 0-9). Mean CL (mm) = −75.30 + 32.70*ln(GA) and SD = −0.41 + 0.08328*GA, where ln represents the natural logarithm and GA the gestational age in weeks. Fetal CL correlated significantly and strongly with BPD, HC, AC, HL, FL and the logarithm of SEFW, with Pearson correlation values of 0.973, 0.977, 0.976, 0.979, 0.977 and 0.979, respectively (all P < 0.001). Measurements according to comparable 1985 data were consistently substantially below the present data (smaller CL for any given GA except below 17 weeks' gestation). Conclusions We propose a new nomogram of CL, which differs significantly from the previously published nomogram. We suggest that the present data reflect the use of high-resolution ultrasound technology and propose that these data, based on a large number of fetuses, replace the previous nomogram. We also suggest that the ‘1 mm = 1 week’ rule of thumb should no longer be used, since it can be erroneous by as much as 6 weeks. Copyright © 2006 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Quality evaluation of pickling cucumbers using hyperspectral reflectance and transmittance imaging—Part II. Performance of a prototype

This article reports on the development of a hyperspectral imaging prototype for online evaluation of external and internal quality of pickling cucumbers. The prototype consisted of a two-lane round belt conveyor, two illumination sources (one for reflectance and one for transmittance), and a hyperspectral imaging unit. It had a novel feature of simultaneous imaging under reflectance mode in the visible region (400–675 nm) and transmittance mode for the red and near-infrared region (Red-NIR) (675–1000 nm). Reflectance information from the visible region was intended for evaluating the external characteristics of cucumbers such as skin color, whereas transmittance information from Red-NIR was used for internal defect detection (i.e., hollow center). Additional features of the prototype included simultaneous acquisition of reflectance and transmittance from calibration references that were installed in the system, to provide real-time, continuous corrections of individual hyperspectral images from each sample. Methods and algorithms were developed of estimating cucumber fruit size and correcting the effect of fruit size on transmittance measurements. The system was calibrated and evaluated for detecting the color, size, and internal defect of pickling cucumbers.
Topic Identification for Fine-Grained Opinion Analysis

Within the area of general-purpose fine-grained subjectivity analysis, opinion topic identification has, to date, received little attention due to both the difficulty of the task and the lack of appropriately annotated resources. In this paper, we provide an operational definition of opinion topic and present an algorithm for opinion topic identification that, following our new definition, treats the task as a problem in topic coreference resolution. We develop a methodology for the manual annotation of opinion topics and use it to annotate topic information for a portion of an existing general-purpose opinion corpus. In experiments using the corpus, our topic identification approach statistically significantly outperforms several non-trivial baselines according to three evaluation measures.
Packet Scheduling Against Stepping-Stone Attacks with Chaff

We consider scheduling packet transmissions in a network so that the efficiency of stepping-stone attacks can be severely restrained with the help of stepping-stone monitors. We allow the attacker to encrypt and pad the packets, perturb the timing of packets, and insert chaff packets, but the timing perturbation is subject to a maximum delay constraint. We show that if we randomize packet transmissions, then the attacker has to insert a large amount of chaff to evade detection completely. In particular, if all transmissions are scheduled as Poisson processes, then the fraction of attacking packets in the attacker's traffic decreases exponentially with the length of the intrusion path.
Simple field test for marijuana

A simple, rapid, sensitive, and specific field test for marijuana and its products is described. The test employs an extracting-eluting ssolvent and an inert adsorbent microcolumn coated with Fast Blue B salt as the reagent. One milligram or less of the suspect material can be tested within 1 min. Of greater than nonmarijuana plant samples tested, only nutmeg and its mace responded similarly to marijuana initially. A differentiation was possible by careful evaluation of the colored microcolumn and the elution behavior of the colored products. The test also provides for a confirmatory step, based on spectrophotometric analysis of the colored eluates. The reagent microcolumn was very stable to environmental factors such as moisture, light, and air.
Rearrangement-Invariant Spaces of Functions on LCA Groups

In this paper the rearrangement-invariant hulls and kernels of the classes {f: f∈Lp} and {f: f∈L1loc} on a noncompact nondiscrete locally compact abelian group are characterized. The spaceL1loc∩S′ of tempered distributions serves as the extended domain of the Fourier transform instead of the classical domainL1+L2. We also introduce and study a new function spaceP0which arises as the rearrangement-invariant hull of some of the classes under consideration.
Global optimization models in data networks: a case study

In this paper we present a methodology for a rural and semi-urban data network placement. In order to optimally place the network and to ensure that the network is realistic and viable we address four key issues, namely, the demographic and socio-economic issues, geographical estimation, optimization of the network placement and financial optimization. A digital representation of the map of the region where the network has to be placed is used. A continuous optimization algorithm is applied to optimally place the backbone rings, and a combinatorial optimization algorithm is applied to obtain the optimal rollout order for the network. Mathematical formulations for both the optimization problems are presented. Optimal financial indicators are obtained.
Perceptions of punishment for crime

A survey questionnaire administered to 662 university undergraduates is used to assess patterns of perceptions of punishment. Results show that the nature of the crime, characteristics of criminal offenders, and characteristics of respondents affect the nature of punishment assigned for 25 criminal offenses.
Female juvenile prostitutes: Exploring the relationship to substance use

Abstract This study examines the incidence of substance use and the differences in life characteristics, such as family relationships, demographics, and abuse history in a sample of 128 adolescent females charged with prostitution. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between drug and alcohol use and juvenile prostitution as well as looking at the differences between the juvenile female prostitutes who use drugs and alcohol compared to those who did not. Differences included the users of alcohol and drugs experienced a greater lack of supervision at home, more associated with negative peers, had higher rates of childhood abuse and neglect, and more often had been suspended or expelled from school. Implications for assessment, interventions and future research are discussed.
Phase equilibria in the PrBaCuO system under varied oxygen partial pressures

Abstract Phase equilibria in the PrBaCuO system under varied oxygen partial pressure (pO2) is investigated. Stoichiometric PrBa2Cu3O7−δ (Pr123) does not exist for pO2
Rated measures of narrative structure for written smoking-cessation texts.

This article describes the effect of a series of rated measures of narrative structure on recognition memory, agreement on story-relevant beliefs, and intention to engage in a health-related behavior—in this case smoking cessation. Using short smoking-cessation stories as stimuli, data were collected in a nationally representative sample of adult smokers (n = 1,312). Results suggested that messages rated as more sequential improved encoding and messages rated as containing more context decreased encoding. Messages rated high in transportation were associated with increased recognition, agreement with story-relevant beliefs, and intention to quit. Both positive and negative emotion were positively associated with intention to quit, but were negatively associated with recognition memory.
Repair of RAMs with clustered faults

A graph-theoretic formulation for memory repair in the presence of clustered faults is presented. This approach is based on the use of variable-cell-size grids (VCS grids). As VCS grids can be represented by bipartite graphs, the reconfiguration problem for clustered faults can also be formulated as a vertex covering problem. Hence, graph-based reconfiguration algorithms developed by previous authors can be extended to exploit clustered fault distributions. Algorithms for memory repair that do not suffer from the restrictions imposed by previous algorithms for clustered faults are developed. A heuristic repair algorithm that has both improved performance and lower execution time than previous repair algorithms is presented. >
Public Administration in a Disenchanted World Reflections on Max Weber’s Value Pluralism and His Views on Politics and Bureaucracy

Although Max Weber was pessimistic regarding the effects of rationalization and bureaucracy on human life and freedom, he saw the disenchantment of the world that results from the ascent of science...
Mapping bulk Ge electronic energy bands along Δ using ARPES spectra of the (001)2×1 surface

Abstract The E versus k dispersion relations of the second and third bulk valence bands as well as one conduction band of Ge along the Δ line of the Brillouin Zone have been experimentally determined from angle-resolved photoelectron spectra collected at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. The experimentally observed bands show good agreement with those calculated using the empirical pseudopotential parameters of Chelikowsky and Cohen for bulk Ge, even though the Ge(001) surface is reconstructed and ARPES is generally considered to be a surface sensitive technique.
The botanical identity and transport of incense during the Egyptian New Kingdom

Resin preserved on New Kingdom vessels from Amarna in Middle Egypt provides evidence for incense burning and trade. Here Margaret Serpico & Raymond White describe a new interdisciplinary research project.
Novel electromagnetic actuation scheme for multiaxis nanopositioning

In this paper, we present a novel electromagnetic actuation scheme for nanoscale positioning with a six-axis magnetic-levitation (Maglev) stage, whose position resolution is 3 nm over an extended travel range of 5x5 mm in the x-y plane. We describe the conceptualization of the actuation scheme, calculation of forces, and their experimental verification in detail. This actuation scheme enables the application of forces in two perpendicular directions on a moving permanent magnet using two stationary current-carrying coils. The magnetic flux generated by the magnet is shared by the two coils, one right below and another on one side of the magnet. The magnitudes and directions of the currents in the coils govern the forces acting on the magnet, following the Lorentz-force law. We analyzed and calculated the electromagnetic forces on the moving magnet over a large travel range. We used feedback linearization to eliminate the force-gap nonlinearity in actuation. The new actuation scheme makes the Maglev stage very simple to manufacture and assemble. Also, there is no mechanical constraint on the single moving platen to remove it from the assembly. There are only three NdFeB magnets used to generate the actuation forces in all six axes. This reduces the moving-part mass significantly, which leads to less power consumption and heat generation in the entire Maglev stage. We present experimental results to demonstrate the payload and precision-positioning capabilities of the Maglev nanopositioner under abruptly and continuously varying loads. The potential applications of this Maglev nanopositioner include microfabrication and assembly, semiconductor manufacturing, nanoscale profiling, and nanoindentation.
Nomad DNA — A model for movement and duplication of DNA sequences in plant genomes

Although few molecular investigations of plant genes and genomes have specifically addressed the issue of gene duplications per se, a substantial amount of data derived from experiments from gene cloning, sequencing and mapping in plants has recently become available. These data are reviewed and analyzed here, and a new mechanism, the Nomad DNA model, for gene movement and duplication in plants is proposed.
Resistance of human tumors to cancer chemotherapeutic agents: An important research problem

The mechanisms whereby malignant cells become biochemically resistant to anti-cancer drugs are surveyed, with emphasis on human tumors. Methotrexate is used as a model to illustrate the mechanisms of resistance that can occur, and how cells can increase their production of dihyrofolate reductase, the target enzyme. Drug resistance remains one of the major impediments to the successful use of chemotherapy for neoplastic diseases.
The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway and plant development.

The importance of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway to cellular regulation in eukaryotes has become increasingly apparent during the last several years. This fact was formally acknowledged recently by the awarding of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, and Irwin
Platelet function, thrombin and fibrinolytic activity in patients with heart failure

Assays which detect the release of platelet-specific proteins and of peptides during thrombogenesis and are considered markers of activation of platelets and the coagulation system have recently been developed. This study was designed to utilize these haemostasis-related markers to test the hypothesis that a prethrombotic state is related to the presence, aetiology and severity of heart failure. Seventy patients with heart failure were evaluated and data were compared with 36 normal volunteers and 41 patients with coronary artery disease without heart failure (CAD). Thrombogenesis was documented using assays which measure platelet function, thrombin activity and fibrinolysis. Platelet function was measured by determining plasma concentrations of platelet factor 4 (PF4) and beta-thromboglobulin (BTG). Thrombin-antithrombin III complexes (TAT) and fibrinopeptide A (FPA) were determined to evaluate thrombin activity. Fibrinolytic activity was assessed by measuring D-Dimer levels. Patients with heart failure, when compared to normals, had increased plasma levels of BTG (89 +/- 62 IU.ml-1 vs 50 +/- 59 IU.ml-1, P < 0.01), TAT (4.6 +/- 4.3 micrograms.l-1 vs 2.3 +/- 0.64 micrograms.l-1, P < 0.005), and D-Dimer levels (506 +/- 444 IU.ml-1 vs 191 +/- 144 IU.ml-1, P < 0.0001). Patients with heart failure, when compared to the CAD group, had increased plasma levels of D-Dimer (506 +/- 444 ng.ml-1 vs 191 +/- 144 ng.ml-1, P < 0.05). Aetiology of heart failure did not affect these measurements. Patients with severe heart failure, as determined by high plasma norepinephrine concentration or low ejection fraction, were more likely to have activation of platelets and the coagulation system.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
An Ancient Chinese Mystery Cult

Ancient China of the first century B.C., like ancient Greece, possessed more than one religion. There was the national state religion, worshipping the Supreme One (Tai-yi—, also called Heaven [Tien] and the Lord on High [Shang-di]), the Five Lords on High (Wu-di or Wu-shang-di), the imperial ancestors, and other divinities, whose sacrifices were supported by the imperial government. For the educated, there were two philosophical religions, Confucianism and Daoism. For the common people, there were gods, spirits, and ghosts of various sorts, whose care was attended to by such professionals as shamans (mostly female), fortune-tellers, physiognomists, mediums, and exorcists. Such animistic cults were despised by the more intelligent Confucians, who considered them as mere superstition. The famous Confucian, Sun-dz (ca. 320–ca. 235 B.C.), had indeed denied the existence of all spirits.
Linear state estimators for non-linear stochastic systems with noisy non-linear observations

The design of linear filters is considered for reconstructing the state of a class of discrete-time non-linear stochastic systems using noise-corrupted measurements. It is shown that for systems with mean-square stable dynamics, it is always possible to guarantee stable estimation schemes. This result is used to prove that a mean–square optimal one-step predictor has stable error dynamics and also to generate other stable predictors.
A microstructural study of Gr/Ep composite material subjected to impact

Abstract Fracture morphology and texture were observed on the impact generated graphite/epoxy composite fragments. The work identifies and explains changes in the surface texture of the fragments generated at different impact velocities (122 to 610 m/s, 400 to 2000 ft/s) and over a wide range of specimen temperatures (−54 to 24°C, −64 to 75°F). The composite panels were impacted by spherical steel projectiles, and the entire spall was carefully collected after the impact. The spall was differentiated according to different sizes and shapes. A few fragments representing each shape and size were selected to analyze the surface morphology using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Change in the surface texture was observed according to the different sizes and shapes, and the change in size and shape of the fragments was credited to the change in impact force. The results following from the close and intense observation of several SEM fractographs revealed that the surface texture of the fragments is strongly dependent on the type of forces acting at the point of impact resulting in four different modes of failure: delamination, transverse matrix cracking, fiber fracture and fiber-matrix interface debonding.
The proportion of abnormal karyotypes in acute leukemia samples related to method of preparation

Bone marrow and peripheral blood were studied from 200 patients with acute leukemia [109 with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 91 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)] who had samples cultured for varying times and who had a mixture of chromosomally abnormal and normal cells. The mean percentage of abnormal metaphase cells increased with culture time. The peak was reached at 48 hours and declined slightly after 72 hours in culture for ALL patients. The mean percentage of abnormal cells increased up to 72 hours in culture for AML patients. In 68 patients (31 AML and 37 ALL), cytogenetic data were available from samples processed with both direct preparations and culture methods. The percentage of abnormal cells increased after culture in 49 patients (23 AML and 26 ALL), while it decreased or remained at the same level in 19 patients. For AML patients, the mean percentage of abnormal cells was significantly different between direct (38%) and cultured preparations (63%), (p less than 0.001). Seven of 9 patients with AML who showed a greater than 50% increase in abnormal cells after culture had either a t(8;21), t(15;17), or abnormalities involving 11q23. The two patients who showed a significant decrease in abnormal cells both had a translocation involving 11q13. Compared with ALL, more AML patients showed greater than 80% abnormal bone marrow metaphase cells at diagnosis or at relapse.
Reducing peak power with a table-driven adaptive processor core

The increasing power dissipation of current processors and processor cores constrains design options, increases packaging and cooling costs, increases power delivery costs, and decreases reliability. Much research has been focused on decreasing average power dissipation, which most directly addresses cooling costs and reliability. However, much less has been done to decrease peak power, which most directly impacts the processor design, packaging, and power delivery. This research proposes a new architecture which provides a significant decrease in peak power with limited performance loss. It does this through the use of a highly adaptive processor. Many components of the processor can be configured at different levels, but because they are centrally controlled, the architecture can guarantee that they are never all configured maximally at the same time. This paper describes this adaptive processor and explores mechanisms for transitioning between allowed configurations to maximize performance within a peak power constraint. Such an architecture can cut peak power by 25% with less than 5% performance loss; among other advantages, this frees 5.3% of total core area used for decoupling capacitors.
Quantum cosmological correlations in an inflating universe: Can fermion and gauge field loops give a scale-free spectrum?

This paper extends the calculation of quantum corrections to the cosmological correlation $⟨\ensuremath{\zeta}\ensuremath{\zeta}⟩$, which has been done by Weinberg for a loop of minimally coupled scalars, to other types of matter loops and a general and realistic potential. It is shown here that departures from scale invariance are never large even when Dirac, vector, and conformal scalar fields are present during inflation. No fine-tuning is needed, in the sense that effective masses or coupling constants can have arbitrary values. Even when the mass is as large as ${M}_{\mathrm{Pl}}$, the one-loop result is still naturally smaller than the classical one. Thus, the results show that the existence of these fields during inflation may not be ruled out and is consistent with natural reheating.
Identification of HIV-infected 12- to 24-year-old men and women in 15 US cities through venue-based testing.

Objective To test whether “venue-based testing” could identify human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in US youth, 12 to 24 years of age, who were otherwise not aware of their infection. Racial and ethnic minority women and men who have sex with men (WSM and MSM) compose the majority of new HIV cases among adolescents and young adults. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Selected venues in communities surrounding the 15 Adolescent Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) clinical sites over a 3-month period. Participants At each venue, ATN sites recruited 20 to 30 English- or Spanish-speaking at-risk youth (12 to 24 years of age), resulting in a total of 1217 study participants, including 611 MSM and 606 WSM. Intervention Venue-based HIV testing with 2 components: an anonymous audio computer-assisted self-administered interview and an anonymous HIV antibody assay. Main Outcome Measure The prevalence of HIV infection in MSM and WSM. Results The prevalence of HIV infection in MSM and WSM was 15.3% and 0.3%, respectively. Sixty percent of the MSM and 100% of the WSM claimed to not know of their infection. Conclusion Venue-based testing may be an important strategy to identify HIV-infected younger MSM; however, other strategies are needed for WSM.
CMOS / CMOL architectures for spiking cortical column

We present a spiking cortical column model based on neural associative memory, and demonstrate architectures for emulating the cortical column model with nanogrid molecular circuitry. We investigate a number of options for cost-effective hardware with digital CMOS and mixed-signal CMOL, a hybrid CMOS/nanogrid technology. We also give an example of a dynamic learning algorithm that is a suitable match to CMOL implementation.
Decision Making Logic of Visual Brain

A popular view is that the brain is making fast decisions in temporal and frontal cortices predominantly on the bases of the feedforward pathways (FF). In later stages iterations (reverberations) with delayed feedback connections (FB) may be helpful. We propose, an opposite concept, that decisions are made in single neurons from the retina to the cortex, and that FB is fast as FF, and from the beginning participates in making decisions. The main differences between FF and FB are their different logics: FF follows driver logical rules, but FB follows modulator logical rules. Driver logical rules are gathering all possible information together therefore and they are context dependent, FB pathways, however, using selective modulator logical rules extract only hypothetically important information. We say that FF FB interaction is prediction hypothesis testing system. Our psychophysical system is different than Turing Machine because we are often insensible to changes of some symbols but same symbols in different configuration may lead to different classification of the same object. In present work we are looking for the anatomical and neurophysiological basis of these perceptual effects. We describe interactions between parts and their configurations on the basis of a single cell electrophysiological activity in cortical area V4. This area is related to simple shape classification. We have divided area V4 cell responses into three categories and found equivalent classes of object attributes for each cell response category. On this basis, we found decision rules for different area V4 cells (rough set theory - Pawlak, 1992 [1]). Some of these rules are not consistent, which may suggest that the brain may use different, non-consistent strategies in parallel in order to classify significant attributes of the unknown object.
Assessing the Influence of Patient Participation in Primary Care Medical Interviews on Recall of Treatment Recommendations

This study examined the relationship between patient participation and recall of treatment recommendations among a sample of 96 patients at two primary care medical clinics. Using multilevel modeling analysis, the results of this study indicated a significant positive correlation (t(81) = 8.84, p < .0001) between patients' participation and their ability to recall treatment recommendations discussed with their physicians. The results presented here suggest that patients who take a more active role in medical interviews may have an increased ability to recall important information discussed during these interactions. This is of utmost importance because the ability to recall treatment recommendations is an important predictor of health outcomes.
Glucocorticoid Receptor Activation Inhibits p53-induced Apoptosis of MCF10Amyc Cells via Induction of Protein Kinase Cϵ

Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor that can promote apoptosis or survival in a cell-specific manner. Activated GR has been reported to inhibit apoptosis in mammary epithelial cells and breast cancer cells by increasing pro-survival gene expression. In this study, activated GR inhibited p53-dependent apoptosis in MCF10A cells and human mammary epithelial cells that overexpress the MYC oncogene. Specifically, GR agonists hydrocortisone or dexamethasone inhibited p53-dependent apoptosis induced by cisplatin, ionizing radiation, or the MDM2 antagonist Nutlin-3. In contrast, the GR antagonist RU486 sensitized the cells to apoptosis by these agents. Apoptosis inhibition was associated with maintenance of mitochondrial membrane potential, diminished caspase-3 and -7 activation, and increased expression at both the mRNA and protein level of the anti-apoptotic PKC family member PKCϵ. Knockdown of PKCϵ via siRNA targeting reversed the protective effect of dexamethasone and restored apoptosis sensitivity. These data provide evidence that activated GR can inhibit p53-dependent apoptosis through induction of the anti-apoptotic factor PKCϵ.
Defect Aggregates In Silicon

In this brief review we consider the vacancy-related, the vacancy oxygen-related, and the vacancy-hydrogen-related defects. We note the common opportunity for chemically-driven partial dissociation of defects. With this background we briefly survey what is known of the oxygen agglomerates, noting that we favor the ylid ( the saddle-point for oxygen diffusion) as the thermal donor core, but that the (vacancy + di-oxygen) complex can also be a core, and that the latter defect can occur when the strain-energy reaches the.point that a vacancy-interstitial pair can be created, causing interstitial emission from the oxygen agglomerate. We note as well that the emission of Si≡0 is energetically favored versus emission of an unbonded interstitial.
Cytochrome P450s in the Regulation of Cellular Retinoic Acid Metabolism

The active metabolite of vitamin A, retinoic acid (RA), is a powerful regulator of gene transcription. RA is also a therapeutic drug. The oxidative metabolism of RA by certain members of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) superfamily helps to maintain tissue RA concentrations within appropriate bounds. The CYP26 family—CYP26A1, CYP26B1, and CYP26C1—is distinguished by being both regulated by and active toward all-trans-RA (at-RA) while being expressed in different tissue-specific patterns. The CYP26A1 gene is regulated by multiple RA response elements. CYP26A1 is essential for embryonic development, whereas CYP26B1 is essential for postnatal survival as well as germ cell development. Enzyme kinetic studies have demonstrated that several CYP proteins are capable of metabolizing at-RA; however, it is likely that CYP26A1 plays a major role in RA clearance. Thus, pharmacological approaches to limiting the activity of CYP26 enzymes may extend the half-life of RA and could be useful clinically in the future.
Dynamic system eigenvalue extraction using a linear echo state network for small-signal stability analysis - a novel application

A large nonlinear dynamic system usually has complex dynamic modes corresponding to the system's eigenvalues. These eigenvalues govern the system's local behavior and thus are critical information for designing system operation and control strategies. Without the availability of the system's analytical model, which is often the case for large nonlinear systems, the system's eigenvalues need to be estimated. A linear echo state network (ESN) based method for extracting observable eigenvalues of a dynamic system together with the participation factors of these eigenvalues in the accessible system states is presented in this paper. A linear ESN is first trained to track the dynamic system's local responses under injected small perturbation signals. The dynamic system's eigenvalues are then extracted from the ESN's weight matrices. Given the merit of fast training of ESNs, the ESN can be quickly retrained once the system operating point changes, and the system eigenvalues can be reestimated. Application of the proposed eigenvalue extraction method in the power system small-signal analysis is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Muscle Fatigue Monitor: A Noninvasive Device for Observing Localized Muscular Fatigue

As a muscular contraction is sustained, the spectrum of the myoelectric signal is compressed into lower frequencies. This spectral compression has been associated with localized muscular fatigue by several investigators. A device is presented that implements a technique to track the spectral compression by calculating the median frequency and two other parameters of the spectrum. The device is referred to as the muscle fatigue monitor (MFM) and is built with analog circuitry so that parameters are calculated and displayed in real-time and on-line. The technique is based on modulated filters which are implemented by using periodically-controlled switches to effectively vary the cutoff frequencies of the filters. The median frequency of a myoelectric signal obtained during a sustained, constant-force, isometric contraction was calculated by the MFM and digital computation. The results obtained by the two techniques were essentially the same, verifying the operation of the MFM.
Law Like Love

This is a transcript of the Kharas Distinguished Lecture that was delivered in March of 2004 at Syracuse University College of Law. John Rawls has famously said that justice is the first virtue of social and legal institutions. This lecture seeks to open a discussion of the question: What would law - particularly criminal law - be like if we regarded love (agape) as the first virtue of social and legal institutions? The lecture discusses punishment - including capital punishment - in a framework of love, and critically considers the claim frequently made that love-based forgiveness is inconsistent with capital punishment and perhaps with all punishment.
Aurora kinase A activates the vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) in kidney carcinoma cells

Extracellular proton-secreting transport systems that contribute to extracellular pH include the vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase). This pump, which mediates ATP-driven transport of H+ across membranes...
Carbon Nitrogen Nanotubes as Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Reactions

Oxygen reduction and evolution reactions are essential for broad range of renewable energy technologies such as fuel cells, metal-air batteries and hydrogen production through water splitting, therefore, tremendous effort has been taken to develop excellent catalysts for these reactions. However, the development of cost-effective and efficient bifunctional catalysts for both reactions still remained a grand challenge. Herein, we report the electrocatalytic investigations of bamboo-shaped carbon nitrogen nanotubes (CNNTs) having different diameter distribution synthesized by liquid chemical vapor deposition technique using different nitrogen containing precursors. These CNNTs are found to be efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. The electrocatalytic activity strongly depends on the nanotube diameter as well as nitrogen functionality type. The higher diameter CNNTs are more favorable for these reactions. The increase in nanotube diameter itself enhances the cat...
Numerical studies of transonic flow of moist air around a thin airfoil

Numerical studies of a two-dimensional, steady, diabatic transonic flow of a moist air around a thin airfoil are presented. The computations are guided by a recent transonic small-disturbance (TSD) theory of Rusak and Lee14 on this topic. The asymptotic model provides a simplified framework to investigate the changes in the flow field caused by the heat addition from a non-equilibrium process of condensation of the water vapor in the air by homogeneous nucleation. An iterative method which is based on a type-sensitive difference scheme is applied to solve the governing equations. The results demonstrate that the TSD solutions of moist air flows represent the essence of the flow character computed from the inviscid fluid flow equations. Furthermore, guided by the asymptotic relations, the computational results demonstrate the similarity rules for transonic flow of moist air and the effects of energy supply by condensation on the flow behavior.