cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evidence for comet storms in meteorite ages

Clustering of cosmic-ray exposure ages of H chondritic meteorites occurs at 7 {+-} 3 and 30 {+-} 6 Myr ago. There is independent evidence that comet storms have occurred at the same times, based on the fossil record of family and genus extinctions, impact craters and glass, and geomagnetic reversals. We suggest that H chondrites were formed by the impact of shower comets on asteroids. The duration of the most recent comet shower was {le} 4 Myr, in agreement with storm theory.
Genetically modified semisynthetic bioluminescent photoprotein variants: simultaneous dual-analyte assay in a single well employing time resolution of decay kinetics.

Progress in the miniaturization and automation of complex analytical processes depends largely on increasing the sensitivity, diversity, and robustness of current labels. Because of their ubiquity and ease of use, fluorescent, enzymatic, and bioluminescent labels are often employed in such miniaturized and multiplexed formats, with each type of label having its own unique advantages and drawbacks. The ultrasensitive detection limits of bioluminescent reporters are especially advantageous when dealing with very small sample volumes and biological fluids. However, bioluminescent reporters currently do not have the multiplexing capability that fluorescent labels do. In an effort to address this limitation, we have developed a method of discriminating two semisynthetic aequorin variants from one another using time resolution. In this work we paired two aequorin conjugates with different coelenterazine analogues and then resolved the two signals from one another using the difference in decay kinetics and half-...
p-version least squares finite element formulation for two-dimensional, incompressible, non-Newtonian isothermal and non-isothermal fluid flow

This paper presents a p- version least squares finite element formulation (LSFEF) for two-dimensional, incompressible, non-Newtonian fluid flow under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. The dimensionless forms of the diffential equations describing the fluid motion and heat transfer are cast into a set of first-order differential equations using non-Newtonian stresses and heat fluxes as auxiliary variables. The velocities, pressure and temperature as well as the stresses and heat fluxes are interpolated using equal-order, C0-continuous, p-version hierarchical approximation functions. The application of least squares minimization to the set of coupled first-order non-linear partial differential equations results in finding a solution vector {δ} which makes the partial derivatives of the error functional with respect to {δ} a null vector. This is accomplished by using Newton's method with a line search. The paper presents the implementation of a power-law model for the non-Newtonian Viscosity. For the non-isothermal case the fluid properties are considered to be a function of temperature. Three numerical examples (fully developed flow between parallel plates, symmetric sudden expansion and lid-driven cavity) are presented for isothermal power-law fluid flow. The Couette shear flow problem and the 4:1 symmetric sudden expansion are used to present numerical results for non-isothermal power-law fluid flow. The numerical examples demonstrate the convergence characteristics and accuracy of the formulation.
Preparation of thin polymer films of predictable chemical functionality using plasma chemistry

Abstract Plasma-polymerized vinyldimethylethoxysilane (PP VDMES) and plasma-copolymerized styrene-vinyldimethylethoxysilane (PC St-VDMES) thin films were prepared in a tubular reactor capacitively coupled to an r.f. power supply. The surface polymer structure as determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was correlated with the controllable discharge parameters of power, pressure and feed gas composition. PP VDMES films show carbon enrichment and concomitant loss of the ethoxy group (via cleavage of the C-O bond) as the power per molecule ratio P/M is increased during the deposition reaction. The rate of deposition of PP VDMES was also found to be a strong function of P/M . The PC St-VDMES surface chemical structure and deposition rate are complicated functions of the feed gas composition (styrene and VDMES). In both systems it is found that the chemical functionalities of the monomers (ethoxy group for VDMES and phenyl ring for styrene) are retained and incorporated into the plasma-deposited films under low P/M discharge conditions.
Isozyme patterns and morphogenesis in higher basidiomycetes

Abstract Earlier studies on sexual morphogenesis in higher basidiomycetes had indicated that there were major changes in the electrophoretic mobility and in the number of isozymes of several metabolic enzymes during the transition from homokaryon to dikaryon. Work with the malic dehydrogenase isozymes of Coprinus congregatus and Schizophyllum commune has not uncovered any isozyme shifts comparable to those reported earlier. The difference in the results of this work from the earlier ones is attributed, in part, to changes in technique involving exogenous electron carriers. Evidence is presented involving endogenous tetrazolium reductases and/or pyridine nucleotide dehydrogenases as the causal agents of artifactual bands. In addition, it is shown that the synthesis of the same proteins is regulated by nuclei in either the homokaryon or the dikaryon state and that in the dikaryon state there can be normal subunit aggregation of monomers to produce hybrid proteins. This evidence is discussed in relation to recent works that refute and confirm the earlier studies.
Expression of K homology domain containing protein (KOC) in pancreatic cytology with corresponding histology.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate if immunocytochemical expression of K homology domain containing protein overexpresssed in cancer (KOC) in biliary brushings and fine needle aspiration improves the diagnostic capability of cytology for intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). STUDY DESIGN Fourteen PDAs, 15 IPMNs and 7 chronic pancreatitis cases were obtained. The cytology smears and surgical specimens were stained with antibody to KOC (1:500). The intensity (scale 0-3+) and per centage of cells staining were evaluated in pathologic lesions, and diffuse (>75% of cells) staining of 3+ intensity was considered positive. RESULTS There was 100% specificity for diagnosing PDA. The sensitivity was greater in histology (79%) than cytology (71%). All chronic pancreatitis and IPMN cases, including IPMN with high grade dysplasia, were negative. Benign epithelium adjacent to PDA or IPMN was also negative. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated that PDA can be differentiated from IPMN and benign ductal epithelium using KOC expression. This could be useful in cytologic cases where atypical features preclude a definitive diagnosis of malignancy.
Properties of vacancies and self-interstitials in silicon deduced from crystal growth, wafer processing, self-diffusion and metal diffusion

Vacancies and self-interstitials in silicon are involved, in a straightforward way, in the formation of grown-in microdefects, diffusion of metals (Au, Zn), self-diffusion and installation of vacancy depth profiles in thin quenched wafers. The diffusivities and equilibrium concentrations of the intrinsic point defects, in dependence of temperature, could be deduced by analyzing these phenomena. The defect diffusivities are high while the equilibrium concentrations are remarkably low.
The effects of interaction between large and small diameter fiber systems on the somatosensory evoked potential

The effect of interaction between large and small diameter fiber systems on the somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) was studied in anesthetized cats. Activation of large diameter fibers of the peroneal or radial nerves eliminates the late components of the SEP produced by stimulation of all fibers in the contralateral median or radial nerves. The inhibitory effects of a selective conditioning stimulus to the large diameter fibers of the peroneal nerve on the radial nerve evoked SEP was eliminated by bilateral transection of the dorsal column and spino-cervical tracts. However, interaction could still be obtained following transection when both large and small diameter fibers in the peroneal nerve were stimulated. The results of this study support the hypothesis that a correlation exists between activity in different fiber groups in afferent nerves, their conduction pathways through the cord, and the components of the cortical evoked potential.
Convergence and Gibbs' phenomenon in cubic spline interpolation of discontinuous functions

Convergence of cubic spline interpolation for discontinuous functions are investigated. It is shown that the complete cubic spline interpolation of the Heaviside step function converges in the Lp-norm at rate O(h1p) for quasi-uniform meshes when 1⩽p<∞, and diverges in the L∞-norm when the uniform meshes are used. No matter how small the uniform mesh size is, the complete cubic spline interpolation always oscillates near the discontinuity. Although this oscillation decays exponentially away from the discontinuous point, the maximum overshoot is not decreasing. Especially, we obtain the asymptotic maximum overshoot when the uniform mesh size goes to zero. The knowledge on the Heaviside function is utilized to discuss convergence properties of cubic spline interpolation for functions with isolated discontinuous points.
Development of a wire contact relay

IN AN age where electronic devices are increasing in quantity and complexity, the electromechanical relay still plays an important part in various switching operations. Commercially available relays were formerly used in accounting machines but, with steady increases in machine speed and capacity, it became necessary to design an improved relay. The development of a wire contact relay for business machines applications is discussed herein.
Quality control autophagy degrades soluble ERAD-resistant conformers of the misfolded membrane protein GnRHR.

Molecular chaperones triage misfolded proteins via action as substrate selectors for quality control (QC) machines that fold or degrade clients. Herein, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated Hsp40 JB12 is reported to participate in partitioning mutant conformers of gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR), a G protein-coupled receptor, between ER-associated degradation (ERAD) and an ERQC autophagy pathway. ERQC autophagy degrades E90K-GnRHR because pools of its partially folded and detergent-soluble degradation intermediates are resistant to ERAD. S168R-GnRHR is globally misfolded and disposed of via ERAD, but inhibition of p97, the protein retrotranslocation motor, shunts S168R-GnRHR from ERAD to ERQC autophagy. Partially folded and grossly misfolded forms of GnRHR associate with JB12 and Hsp70. Elevation of JB12 promotes ERAD of S168R-GnRHR, with E90K-GnRHR being resistant. E90K-GnRHR elicits association of the Vps34 autophagy initiation complex with JB12. Interaction between ER-associated Hsp40s and the Vps34 complex permits the selective degradation of ERAD-resistant membrane proteins via ERQC autophagy.
Fractographic observations of cleavage initiation in the ductile-brittle transition region of a reactor-pressure-vessel steel

This note reports the results of a fractographic study conducted on a group of 1T compact fracture toughness specimens of a heavy-section A508 steel denoted TSE6 tested in the ductile-brittle transition region (22 and 82/sup 0/C). The fatigue-precracked specimens were loaded at a rapid rate (760 or 550 mm per second) to promote cleavage-crack growth and lower-bound toughness behavior. All specimens experienced unstable cleavage fracture prior to reaching a maximum in the load displacement curve. Some ductile crack growth occurred in half of the specimens. The objective of fractographic examinations was to understand the observed statistical variations in cleavage initiation by (a) locating the origins of unstable cleavage fracture in the vicinity of the fatigue-precrack or ductilerupture crack fronts, (b) identifying microstructural features associated with the triggering of cleavage, and (c) documenting characteristic fracture surface dimensions such as the extent of stable-crack growth prior to unstable cleavage (..delta cap alpha..) and the distance of the cleavage origin from the ductilerupture front, /chi/ (or fatigue-crack front when ..delta cap alpha.. = 0).
Picosecond pulse radiolysis studies of the primary processes in hydrocarbon radiation chemistry

Abstract Picosecond pulse radiolysis studies have been performed on n-pentane, n-hexane and cyclohexane to learn about the primary radiolytic processes occurring in these alkanes. The transient absorption profiles obtained result from the superimposition of several processes: the geminate recombination between positive ions and electrons; the disappearance of highly excited alkali radical-cations (by spontaneous fragmentation of C-H bonds or dimolecular reaction with the solvent); and the exponential decay of the singlet solvent excited states. Fragmentation of excited alkane positive ions appears to be faster when the number of carbon atoms decreases in the aliphatic chain: it becomes so fast in n-pentane that only pentene positive ions are detected after 25 ps pulses. The recombination kinetics between pentene holes and the electrons is similar to that predicted for a geminate ion decay in which the spatial distribution function of ions is exponential. Contrary to linear alkane cations, cyclohexane holes do not exhibit a pronounced tendency to dissociate. The short lifetimes of the n-pentane and n-hexane S1 states mean that the absorption of the S1 state is not important; in contrast, the S1 state of cyclohexane decays more slowly and thus contributes much more to the optical absorption. A non-negligible fraction of cyclohexane S1 states are generated by geminate recombination.
On the continuity of factorizations

Let {X i : i ∈ I} be a set of sets, X J :=П i ∈ J X i when O ≠ J ⊆ I; Y be a subset of X I , Z be a set, and f : Y → Z. Then f is said to depend on J if p, q ∈ Y , p J = q J ⇒ f(p) = f(q); in this case, f J : π J [Y ] → Z is well-defined by the rule f = fJ ◦ π J | Y When the X i and Z are spaces and f : Y → Z is continuous with Y dense in X I , several natural questions arise: (a) does f depend on some small J ⊆ I? (b) if it does, when is f J continuous? (c) if f J is continuous, when does it extend to continuous f J : X J → Z? (d) if f J so extends, when does f extend to continuous f : X I → Z? (e) if f depends on some J ⊆ I and f extends to continuous f : X I → Z, when does f also depend on J? The authors offer answers (some complete, some partial) to some of these questions, together with relevant counterexamples. Theorem 1. f has a continuous extension f : X I → Z that depends on J if and only if f J is continuous and has a continuous extension f J : X J → Z. Example 1. For ω ≤ k ≤ c there are a dense subset Y of [0, 1] k and f ∈ C(Y, [0, 1]) such that f depends on every nonempty J ⊆ k, there is no J ∈ [k] <ω such that f J is continuous, and f extends continuously over [0, 1] k . Example 2. There are a Tychonoff space X I , dense Y ⊆ X I , f ∈ C(Y ), and J ∈ [I] <ω such that f depends on J, π J [Y ] is C-embedded in X J , and f does not extend continuously over X I .
Conformal mappings to achieve simple material parameters for transformation optics devices

The transformation optics technique for designing novel electromagnetic and optical devices offers great control over wave behavior, but is difficult to implement primarily due to limitations in current metamaterial design and fabrication techniques. This paper demonstrates that restricting the spatial transformation to a conformal mapping can lead to much simpler material parameters for more practical implementation. As an example, a flat cylindrical-to-plane-wave conversion lens is presented and its performance validated through numerical simulations. It is shown that the lens dimensions and embedded source location can be adjusted to produce one, two, or four highly directive planar beams. Two metamaterial designs for this lens that implement the required effective medium parameters are proposed and their behavior analyzed.
Effect of age, gender and menstrual cycle on gastric emptying

Purpose: Disorders of gastric emptying are common in women. Although female reproductive hormones are implicated in delayed gastric emptying, evidence for this assumption is not convincing. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of age, gender and menstrual cycle on gastric emptying and postprandial symptoms in healthy individuals.
A near-optimal power management strategy for rapid component sizing of power split hybrid vehicles with multiple operating modes

In the design of hybrid vehicles, it is important to identify proper component sizes. When the search space of the design problem is large, exhaustive power management strategy such as dynamic programming (DP) is too time-consuming to be feasible. Instead, a near-optimal method that is orders of magnitude faster than DP is needed. One such near-optimal method is developed and presented in this paper. This method is applied to design an input-split hybrid vehicle utilizing a single planetary gear (PG). There are 6 possible input split configurations, and each configuration has up to 4 modes [1]. Based on the analysis of the efficiency of powertrain components of the four modes, and the “Power-weighted Efficiency” (PE) concept, we show that the computation time for each sizing problem can be reduced by a factor of 10,000 compared with the dynamic-programming based approach.
PITYRIASIS LICHENOIDES: A rEAPPRAISAL

Summary.— One hundred and twenty-eight cases of pityriasis lichenoides presenting at St. John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin in the past decade have been reviewed. Sixty of these were seen personally, and 44 of these had lesiuns at the time of interview. Eighteen other patients completed proformata, and adequate hospital records were available for the rest. One hundred and two biopsies from 82 patients with pityriasis lichenoides were also examined in the course of this study. The various clinical manifestations seen in this group of patients has been analysed in order to define the clinical range of the Disease. None of the patients studied developed a cutaneous reticulosis and thus the risk for such an occurrence must be small. Patients with pityriasis lichenoides did not appear prone to any systemic complaint, and the disease seemed to be limited to the skin. Some of the patients who had had the disease for several years developed haemorrhagic and necrotic lesions, suggesting that pityriasis lichenoides varioliformis et acuta and pityriasis lichenoides chronica are variants of a single disease process. Altliough small vessel involvement in the inflammatory process was usual, no histological evidence was obtained to suggest that a vasculitis is of central importance in the pathogenesis of the disease.
The Researcher's Role: A Case Study

During the Fall and Winter of 1948-49, the writer made a study of a laundry plant located in a Southern town. The purpose of the research was to test and further develop the use of a method invented by Delbert C. Miller for analyzing and rating the social skills required by jobs.
Practical aspects of 3D heteronuclear NMR of proteins

Abstract Practical aspects regarding the acquisition and processing of 3D heteronuclear data sets are discussed, with particular emphasis on the 3D NOESY-HMQC experiment which combines the 2D NOE and the heteronuclear multiple-quantum coherence (HMQC) experiments. Slices through the 3D spectrum are equivalent to 15 N-filtered 2D NOESY spectra and exhibit sensitivity similar to that obtained in regular 2D NOE experiments. We discuss experimental procedures for obtaining maximum resolution with a relatively small number of t 1 and t 2 increments. In addition, a simple and efficient procedure for performing the third Fourier transformation that permits use of standard 2D software for processing in the other dimensions is described. Other important aspects of the data processing concern optimal digital filtering, noninteractive phasing, and minimization of the space needed for the processed data.
The primitive string manipulation (PRISM) language

This note describes a set of primitives that seem to provide the basis of a general system of string manipulation. The author is using these in some simulation experiments and in instructional material that he is developing. He would appreciate citations to any prior work that uses the same set of primitives, or which has strong similarities to the PRISM approach. Individual details of PRISM have obvious resemblances to particular features of some well known programming languages and formal systems. The precise combination of primitives in PRISM, however, have capabilities that do not seem to be known generally, including possible use in the design of artificial intelligence machines.
Compressing the business development cycle: applying stewardship design principles for commercial scale solar projects

Building on the success of its first large scale solar project in 2010, Secure Futures, LLC (‘Secure Futures’), a US solar development company, developed its second large scale solar project in 2011, in nearly half the time and four times larger than the first. Secure Futures developed Virginia’s first commercial-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power project through a unique power purchase agreement with Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) for a 104 kW system on the EMU campus in 2010. The EMU solar project took 21 months to overcome a variety of legal, financial, regulatory and tax hurdles. The second project, developed in 2011 with Washington and Lee University (W&L) in Lexington, VA for 444 kW was completed in eleven months. The company applied sustainable value (Laszlo, 2008), collaborative advantage (Kanter, 1994), and stewardship design principles (Smith, 2010) in overcoming market barriers and compressing business development cycles. This case study highlights the principles that contributed to developing two milestone projects in succession that overcame market, regulatory and financial hurdles.
Colin Gunton, Divine Love, and Univocal Predication

Abstract In this paper I draw from Colin Gunton and argue that the scriptures teach, or else presuppose, that univocity is true—specifically, that the term ‘love’ can possess the same meaning when applied to God and humans. My argument for this conclusion has three stages. In the first stage I survey the three major views of theological predication relevant to my Gunton-inspired argument—univocity, equivocity, and analogy. From there I attempt to assuage the worry that one cannot adjudicate between theories of predication by appealing to the biblical texts. Finally, I contend that univocity, in contrast to analogy and equivocity, best undergirds Jesus’ command in John 15:9-12 to love others as the Father has loved him.
Method for retrieving sequences of images on the basis of motion analysis

This paper describes a method for retrieving sequences of images in a motion image database using motion information as a key. This information is obtained by application of the motion analysis technique. The proposed method has three steps: automatic extraction of motion vectors through frame sequences, motion description using spatio-temporal space, and retrieval of sequences of images. The motion vectors of objects are extracted on the basis of block motion estimation. Block motion estimation tracks each block of a scene throughout a period. This tracking procedure takes account of the traceability of each block and the reliability of its calculated motion vector. Extracted motion vectors are mapped using spatio- temporal space (x-y-t). The motion of each block is represented as one vector in the feature space, and motion vectors in a scene are aggregated into several representative vectors by statistical analysis. The retrieval of sequences of images is divided into two parts: specification of the query conditions, and matching between the query conditions and the motion database. The query conditions are input from a stroke device. The user can interactively manipulate the query conditions, such as the number, period, and starting time of objects. The data are gathered as an x-y series at a given interval, and then normalized. Similarity is defined in spatio-temporal space as the distance between the query conditions and the stored motion index. Candidate sequences of images are ranked in order of distance. An experimental system has been developed for retrieving sequences of images on a workstation.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Polarization—dependent four-wave-mixing in distributed feedback lasers

We present new results on the polarization-dependence of four-wave-mixing in distributed-feedback lasers, which is useful for wavelength conversion in wavelength division multiplexing applications. The lasing TE mode of the DFB laser serves as the pump beam, and the DFB laser also serves as the wave-mixing medium. An external probe beam of either TE or TM polarization was injected into the mixing laser, and the output spectra for both polarizations were measured. For a fixed pump with TE polarization, we observe not only TE conjugate output with TE probe input, but also new results with TM conjugate output using TM probe input. The spectral dependence of the TE and TM conversion efficiencies is shown for pump/probe detunings up to 200 GHz. We also present a method to calculate and measure the refractive index dispersion spectrum for each polarization. Experimental data from both polarizations are simultaneously matched to theoretical curves. We utilize these results to calculate the relative magnitude of the phase mismatch for each polarization. We find that for an external probe TE signal, the conversion efficiency of the generated TE conjugate wave is much stronger than that of the TM (probe in) to TM (probe out) configuration. The reasons are that in addition to the difference in nonlinear susceptibility, the TETE case is well phase-matched for small detunings, while the phase-matching is poor for the TM-TM case.
MEASURING TRUST OF HUMAN OPERATORS IN NEW GENERATION RESCUE ROBOTS

The utilization of mobile rescue robots in dynamic environments decreases the risk to emergency personnel in the field. Recent efforts to improve rescue robot design by using new fluid-power technology provide opportunities of studying the changes in metrics of human-robot interaction (HRI), such as trust. Trust is one of the most critical factors in urban search and rescue missions because it can impact the decisions human make in uncertain conditions. This research is to develop an instrument that can be used to measure trust in human-robotic interaction, which will allow us to collect data for building a quantitative model of trust in HRI. As the first step in this effort, a pilot study was conducted to determine the validity of an instrument to measure the appropriate dimensions of trust in this new human-robot system.
A PUNCHED-CARD REFERENCE SYSTEM FOR BIOCHEMISTS.

A simple binomial-code punched-card system for biochemists is described. Employing major and minor classifications, the system can handle a total of 812 subjects in two rows of 29 holes each. Enough theoretical and practical technics are illustrated to enable the novice to devise a system suited to his own needs.
Glutamine Synthetase GlnA1 Is Essential for Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Human THP-1 Macrophages and Guinea Pigs

To assess the role of glutamine synthetase (GS), an enzyme of central importance in nitrogen metabolism, in the pathogenicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we constructed a glnA1 mutant via allelic exchange. The mutant had no detectable GS protein or GS activity and was auxotrophic for L-glutamine. In addition, the mutant was attenuated for intracellular growth in human THP-1 macrophages and avirulent in the highly susceptible guinea pig model of pulmonary tuberculosis. Based on growth rates of the mutant in the presence of various concentrations of L-glutamine, the effective concentration of L-glutamine in the M. tuberculosis phagosome of THP-1 cells was approximately 10% of the level assayed in the cytoplasm of these cells (4.5 mM), indicating that the M. tuberculosis phagosome is impermeable to even very small molecules in the macrophage cytoplasm. When complemented by the M. tuberculosis glnA1 gene, the mutant exhibited a wild-type phenotype in broth culture and in human macrophages, and it was virulent in guinea pigs. When complemented by the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium glnA gene, the mutant had only 1% of the GS activity of the M. tuberculosis wild-type strain because of poor expression of the S. enterica serovar Typhimurium GS in the heterologous M. tuberculosis host. Nevertheless, the strain complemented with S. enterica serovar Typhimurium GS grew as well as the wild-type strain in broth culture and in human macrophages. This strain was virulent in guinea pigs, although somewhat less so than the wild-type. These studies demonstrate that glnA1 is essential for M. tuberculosis virulence.
Triptolide, an Inhibitor of the Human Heat Shock Response That Enhances Stress-induced Cell Death

Molecular chaperones, inducible by heat shock and a variety of other stresses, have critical roles in protein homeostasis, balancing cell stress with adaptation, survival, and cell death mechanisms. In transformed cells and tumors, chaperones are frequently overexpressed, with constitutive activation of the heat shock transcription factor HSF1 implicated in tumor formation. Here, we describe the activity of triptolide, a diterpene triepoxide from the plant Triptergium wilfordii, as an inhibitor of the human heat shock response. Triptolide treatment of human tissue culture cells prevented the inducible expression of heat shock genes, shown by suppression of an HSP70 promoter-reporter construct and by suppression of endogenous HSP70 gene expression. Upon examining the steps in the HSF1 activation pathway, we found that triptolide abrogates the transactivation function of HSF1 without interfering in the early events of trimer formation, hyperphosphorylation, and DNA binding. The ability of triptolide to inhibit the heat shock response renders these cells sensitive to stress-induced cell death, which may be of great relevance to cancer treatments.
A Maturity-Structured Mathematical Model of Mutation, Acquisition in the Absence of Homeostatic Regulation

Most mammalian tissues are organized into a hierarchical structure of stem, progenitor, and differentiated cells. Tumors exhibit similar hierarchy, even if it is abnormal in comparison with healthy tissue. In particular, it is believed that a small population of cancer stem cells drives tumorigenesis in certain malignancies. These cancer stem cells are derived from transformed stem cells or mutated progenitors that have acquired stem-cell qualities, specifically the ability to self-renew. Similar to their normal counterparts, cancer stem cells are long-lived, can self-renew and differentiate, albeit aberrantly, and are capable of generating tissue, resulting in tumor formation. Although identified and characterized in several forms of malignancy, the specific multi-step process that causes the formation of cancer stem cells is uncertain. Here, a maturity-structured mathematical model is developed to investigate the sequential order of mutations that causes the fastest emergence of cancer stem cells. Using model predictions, we discuss conditions for which genetic instability significantly speeds cancer onset and suggest that unbalanced stem-cell self-renewal and inhibition of progenitor differentiation contribute to aggressive forms of cancer. To our knowledge, this is the first continuous maturity-structured mathematical model used to investigate mutation acquisition within hierarchical tissue in order to address implications of cancer stem cells in tumorigenesis.
Targeting the “Rising DAMP” during a Francisella tularensis Infection

ABSTRACT Antibiotic efficacy is greatly enhanced the earlier it is administered following infection with a bacterial pathogen. However, in a clinical setting antibiotic treatment usually commences following the onset of symptoms, which in some cases (e.g., biothreat agents) may be too late. In a BALB/c murine intranasal model of infection for Francisella tularensis SCHU S4 infection, we demonstrate during a time course experiment that proinflammatory cytokines and the damage-associated molecular pattern HMGB1 were not significantly elevated above naive levels in tissue or sera until 72 h postinfection. HMGB1 was identified as a potential therapeutic target that could extend the window of opportunity for the treatment of tularemia with antibiotics. Antibodies to HMGB1 were administered in conjunction with a delayed/suboptimal levofloxacin treatment of F. tularensis. We found in the intranasal model of infection that treatment with anti-HMGB1 antibody, compared to an isotype IgY control antibody, conferred a significant survival benefit and decreased bacterial loads in the spleen and liver but not the lung (primary loci of infection) 4 days into infection. We also observed an increase in the production of gamma interferon in all tested organs. These data demonstrate that treatment with anti-HMGB1 antibody is beneficial in enhancing the effectiveness of current antibiotics in treating tularemia. Strategies of this type, involving antibiotics in combination with immunomodulatory drugs, are likely to be essential for the development of a postexposure therapeutic for intracellular pathogens.
FURTHER RESULTS ON THE INITIATION AND GROWTH OF ADIABATIC SHEAR BANDS AT HIGH STRAIN RATES

Growth of perturbations in the simple shearing deformation of a softening thermo-visco-plastic solid have been examined by means of a finite element technique. It has been found that very small perturbations grow slowly at first, even though the underlying homogeneous stress-strain response has passed peak stress, but that eventually explosive growth occurs. During the slow growth phase, the stress follows the homogeneous response quite closely, but in the explosive phase, the stress drops precipitously. Large perturbations grow at a larger initial rate, and accelerate rapidly even before peak homogeneous stress. Inclusion of a dipolar plastic effect appears to be stabil.izing.
Volunteering and Charitable Giving: Do Religious and Associational Ties Promote Helping Behavior?

Most research on helping behavior has concentrated on situational and personality effects on the decision to provide emergency aid; less work has dealt with social determinants of common, nonemergency helping. We investigated the effects of religious and associational ties on secular volunteering and charitable giving in a sample of 800 Indiana residents. We found that belonging to a range of voluntary associations increases volunteering and giving. Participation in church groups also increases both forms of secular helping, but attending church does not.
Father Involvement in the Lives of Mainland Puerto Rican Children: Contributions of Nonresident, Cohabiting and Married Fathers.

This study examines the nature and determinants of father involvement among mainland Puerto Ricans using interview data collected from mothers of a representative sample of Puerto Rican infants. Focusing on both financial contributions and participation in child care (e.g. diapering feeding and bathing the child) the behavior of non-resident fathers is compared to that of cohabiting fathers and married fathers. A key question addressed in the analysis is whether father involvement is influenced primarily by the fathers economic status or whether other factors identified in the literature are also important for Puerto Ricans. Overall the authors results underscore the critical role of employment in fathers contributions to Puerto Rican children. (authors)
U.S. black newspaper coverage of the UN and U.S. white coverage, 1948–1975

An analysis of UN coverage in sample years between 1948 and 1975 by five representative black U.S. newspapers as compared with the New York Times and, to a lesser extent, the Chicago Tribune shows that UN coverage by the black press since 1961 has declined, as it has for the white press, but that the decline in black press coverage is not only less sharp but has also been somewhat reversed in recent years. Patterns of coverage differ: greater priority is accorded in the black press to Africa and Asia and more emphasis is placed on personalities, especially on black Americans at the United Nations. Comparisons of black press coverage with UN “busyness” and with the differentials of support for the UN that have been manifested over the years in both black and white public opinion reveal no clear correlations.
Growing user information dependence and its impact on the library field

The now widely accepted description of the new post‐industrial society as defined by Daniel Bell clearly points to an emphasis on the provision of services rather than on the production of goods. In part this is true because improved technologies for agricultural and industrial production allow a smaller and smaller proportion of the population of the Western world to supply even the increasing demands for the food, the clothing, the shelter, and the material goods which at one time took all of our strength and all of our energies. The growing emphasis is on the provision of services—in part because having others do things for us is an indication of our growing affluence—in part because the number of potential services increases as our imagination and desires constantly stay one step ahead of what we have—and in part because increased efficiency and increased performance have also brought with them increased complexity.
Non-rigid summing of gated PET via optical flow

A method for summing together datasets from gated cardiac PET acquisitions is described. Optical flow techniques are used to accurately model non-rigid motion present during the cardiac cycle so that a one-to-one mapping is found between each voxel of two gated volumes. Using this mapping, image summing can take place, producing a composite dataset with improved statistics and reduced motion-induced blur. Results using a data from a gated cardiac study on a dog are presented.
Direct and Potent Regulation of γ-Secretase by Its Lipid Microenvironment

γ-Secretase is an unusual and ubiquitous aspartyl protease with an intramembrane catalytic site that cleaves many type-I integral membrane proteins, most notably APP and Notch. Several reports suggest that cleavage of APP to produce the Aβ peptide is regulated in part by lipids. As γ-secretase is a multipass protein complex with 19 transmembrane domains, it is likely that the local lipid composition of the membrane can regulate γ-activity. To determine the direct contribution of the lipid microenvironment to γ-secretase activity, we purified the human protease from overexpressing mammalian cells, reconstituted it in vesicles of varying lipid composition, and examined the effects of individual phospholipids, sphingolipids, cholesterol, and complex lipid mixtures on substrate cleavage. A conventional γ-activity assay was modified to include a detergent-removal step to facilitate proteoliposome formation, and this increased baseline activity over 2-fold. Proteoliposomes containing sphingolipids significantly increased γ-secretase activity over a phosphatidylcholine-only baseline, whereas the addition of phosphatidylinositol significantly decreased activity. Addition of soluble cholesterol in the presence of phospholipids and sphingolipids robustly increased the cleavage of APP- and Notch-like substrates in a dose-dependent manner. Reconstitution of γ-secretase in complex lipid mixtures revealed that a lipid raft-like composition supported the highest level of activity compared with other membrane compositions. Taken together, these results demonstrate that membrane lipid composition is a direct and potent modulator of γ-secretase and that cholesterol, in particular, plays a major regulatory role.
Follow the code: Rules or guidelines for academic deans' behavior?

This chapter delineates six tenets for a code of conduct to guide the behavior of academic deans.
Asymptotically optimal UWB receivers with noisy templates: design and comparison with RAKE

For pulsed ultra-wideband (UWB) radios, a major challenge in receiver design is to collect sufficient energy from ultrashort pulses exposing to strong multipath scattering. We develop a UWB receiver structure along with low-complexity timing synchronization and data demodulation schemes based on noisy templates (NTs). The NT receiver enjoys full multipath diversity, and achieves asymptotically optimal detection performance with robustness to mistiming. The detection error performance of the NT receiver is analyzed and compared with that of RAKE receivers, under realistic channel and timing estimation errors. Insights on the design tradeoffs of NT versus RAKE reception are provided, using unifying metrics that capture the relative importance of various performance-critical factors of individual receivers. The NT receiver outperforms the RAKE with a limited number of fingers under practical operating conditions.
Early weight regain after gastric bypass does not affect insulin sensitivity but is associated with elevated ghrelin.

Objectives—We sought to determine: 1) if early weight regain between one and two years after RYGB is associated with worsened hepatic and peripheral insulin sensitivity, and 2) if preoperative levels of ghrelin and leptin are associated with early weight regain after RYGB. Design and Methods—Hepatic and peripheral insulin sensitivity and ghrelin and leptin plasma levels were assessed longitudinally in 45 subjects before RYGB and at one month, six months, one year, and two years post operatively. Weight regain was defined as ≥ 5% increase in body weight between one and two years after RYGB. Results—Weight regain occurred in 33% of subjects, with an average increase in body weight of 10 ± 5 % (8.5 ± 3.3 kg). Weight regain was not associated with worsening of peripheral or hepatic insulin sensitivity. Subjects with weight regain after RYGB had higher preoperative and postoperative levels of ghrelin compared to those who maintained or lost weight during this time. Conversely, the trajectories of leptin levels corresponded with the trajectories of fat mass in both groups. Conclusions—Early weight regain after RYGB is not associated with a reversal of improvements in insulin sensitivity. Higher preoperative ghrelin levels might identify patients that are more susceptible to weight regain after RYGB.
Silicon-photonic clos networks for global on-chip communication

Future manycore processors will require energy-efficient, high-throughput on-chip networks. Silicon-photonics is a promising new interconnect technology which offers lower power, higher bandwidth density, and shorter latencies than electrical interconnects. In this paper we explore using photonics to implement low-diameter non-blocking crossbar and Clos networks. We use analytical modeling to show that a 64-tile photonic Clos network consumes significantly less optical power, thermal tuning power, and area compared to global photonic crossbars over a range of photonic device parameters. Compared to various electrical on-chip networks, our simulation results indicate that a photonic Clos network can provide more uniform latency and throughput across a range of traffic patterns while consuming less power. These properties will help simplify parallel programming by allowing the programmer to ignore network topology during optimization.
Laparoscopic repair of a left-sided paraduodenal hernia.

Internal hernias are a rare cause of bowel obstruction, constituting 0.2–0.9 % of all cases with paraduodenal hernias (PDH) being the most common accounting for 50 % of all internal hernias with 75 % of those being left-sided [1, 2]. They are due to small bowel herniating into a peritoneum-lined sac at the fourth portion of the duodenum as the result of abnormal midgut rotation during embryonic development. Patients may present with symptoms of small bowel obstruction, though the majority are found incidentally [3]. Diagnosis is aided with computed tomography (CT) with findings of encapsulated clustering of small bowel loops in the left upper quadrant, bowel between the stomach and pancreas, crowding of mesenteric vessels, and displacement of the inferior mesenteric vein [4]. A 34-year-old male presented with a 3-year history of postprandial epigastric pain. After multiple inconclusive imaging studies, he was taken to the operating room for diagnostic laparoscopy. The transverse colon was retracted cephalad, and the distal bowel could be seen entering a defect just lateral to the fourth portion of the duodenum. This mass of herniated bowel was readily reduced, and the defect could be appreciated as a 4-cm invagination lateral to the duodenum and posterior to the inferior mesenteric vein. The defect was then closed using interrupted silk suture and the port sites closed. The patient tolerated the procedure well and was discharged home 24 h later. At 12 months postoperatively, he continued to have intermittent nausea and abdominal pain. Repeated imaging studies including CT scans were negative for obstruction or internal hernia. PDH are a rare form of internal hernia that result from abnormal midgut rotation during fetal development. Diagnosis is challenging but may be aided by CT imaging. Laparoscopic repair is a safe and effective method of management in these patients [5, 6]. In patients presenting with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and radiographic evidence of PDH, laparoscopic repair should be considered given its safety and efficacy profile. Although surgical intervention did not result in complete resolution of our patient’s symptoms, repair of his hernia removed this diagnosis from his differential and facilitated his ultimate diagnosis of functional abdominal pain syndrome.
Setting the Record Straight: Judge Higginbotham on Judge Alito

In 2006, Judge Samuel Alito, of the Third Circuit Court, was nominated for a vacancy on the United States Supreme Court. Since the nomination, there has been much interest in what his liberal colleagues on the Circuit Court think of him. One name, in particular - the late A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Chief Judge when Alito joined the Court and, arguably, the most liberal member - has been invoked to suggest that Higginbotham might not have opposed Alito's nomination. This article argues that Higginbotham's opposition would have been clear and unequivocable.
Pentane Clearance From, Inspired Air by the Rat: Dependence on the Liver

Pentane, a volatile hydrocarbon, is cleared from inspired air by the rat. We have studied this clearance to learn whether or not it is a function of the liver. Rats were put individually into airtight chambers which contained CO2 absorbent and were connected to an O2 reservoir. Pentane was injected into each chamber and chamber atmosphere was assayed frequently for pentane over 6 h by gas chromatography. Semilog plots of pentane concentration had a rapid distribution phase and a log-linear terminal elimination phase. A chamber clearance value in milliliters of atmosphere cleared per minute per kilogram rat weight was calculated. Nephrectomy had no effect on pentane clearance. Liver injury by thioacetamide (5 mmol/kg) or by CCl4 (75 or 125 μl/100 g) was associated with a marked decrease in pentane clearance, indicating a major role for the liver in pentane elimination. Treatment of rats with inducers or inhibitors of the hepatic microsomal cytochrome P450 system did not affect their ability to clear pentane. However, administration of ethanol or 4-methyl-pyrazole diminished pentane clearance, suggesting that alcohol dehydrogenase may be involved in pentane metabolism. These findings demonstrate that pentane clearance is a liver function.