cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Isolation and characterization of the proteolytic enzyme component from commercially available crude trypsins

Abstract A purification procedure for the isolation of a mixture of the major proteolytic pancreatic enzymes (trypsin, chymotrypsin, and elastase) from commercial crude trypsins is described. These enzymes are apparently the enzymes responsible for tissue dispersal in numerous cell culture systems. Materials toxic to cell cultures, present in certain crude trypsin samples, are removed during a purification involving centrifugation, dialysis, treatment with a cellulose ion-exchange resin, removal of salts, and lyophilization. While the fundamental use of this proteolytic mixture would be to prepare primary cell culture, the broad peptide bond specifleity of this mixture would suggest application in cases where a general protease, free of other enzymatic activities, is required.
Amalgamating source code authors, maintainers, and change proneness to triage change requests

The paper presents an approach, namely iMacPro, to recommend developers who are most likely to implement incoming change requests. iMacPro amalgamates the textual similarity between the given change request and source code, change proneness information, authors, and maintainers of a software system. Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) and a lightweight analysis of source code, and its commits from the software repository, are used. The basic premise of iMacPro is that the authors and maintainers of the relevant source code, which is change prone, to a given change request are most likely to best assist with its resolution. iMacPro unifies these sources in a unique way to perform its task, which was not investigated and reported in the literature previously. An empirical study on three open source systems, ArgoUML, JabRef, and jEdit , was conducted to assess the effectiveness of iMacPro. A number of change requests from these systems were used in the evaluated benchmark. Recall values for top one, five, and ten recommended developers are reported. Furthermore, a comparative study with a previous approach that uses the source-code authorship information for developer recommendation was performed. Results show that iMacPro could provide recall gains from 30% to 180% over its subjected competitor with statistical significance.
Terminal effects of ethanol on dopamine dynamics in rat nucleus accumbens: An in vitro voltammetric study

To assess the direct effects of acute ethanol on dopamine (DA) terminals, evoked DA release and uptake were measured in rat nucleus accumbens slices using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. Low and moderate concentrations of ethanol (20, 45 and 100 mM) did not alter evoked DA release, while high concentrations (150 and 200 mM) significantly decreased DA release (18 and 36%, respectively) in a calcium-dependent manner. No significant difference was found between the rate of DA disappearance measured before and after the drug. These data indicate that uptake of DA through the dopamine transporter is unaffected by ethanol, even at high concentrations. Therefore, low to moderate concentrations of ethanol have no effect on DA dynamics at the level of the nerve terminal in the nucleus accumbens. This is consistent with the hypothesis that cell body regions of DA neurons are the primary target for the stimulating and reinforcing effects of ethanol. High concentrations of ethanol can locally depress DA release, and this may correlate with the sedative actions of the drug. Synapse 42:77–79, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Application of Intermittent Time-Sampling to Calculations of Mean Length of Utterance:

Mean lengths of utterance in morphemes were calculated for language samples of 100 utterances, every third utterance, and every fifth utterance for 32 language samples. The resultant MLUs were then...
School crime policy changes: The impact of recent highly-publicized school crimes

Highly-publicized school shootings have heightened concern over school safety. This study examines the impact of school crimes on campus policy. The administrators of 336 Texas middle and high schools were surveyed. Policy changes were related to parental complaints about school crime policies and administrator perceptions that students felt less safe. School administrators should base safety policies on strategies that have been evaluated for their effectiveness in reducing school crime and fear.
Implementing New York's Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program: An Exploratory Study of Systemic Impacts

This exploratory study examined the impacts of New York's Universal Pre-kindergarten (UPK) program as perceived by directors at child care centers and preschools not receiving state funds. Although only partially implemented, UPK's mixed-delivery system grants monies to a substantial number of qualifying community-based early care and education centers, resulting in a funding imbalance between participating and nonparticipating centers. Phone interviews were conducted with the directors of non-UPK programs across New York State (N = 46). Quantitative and qualitative analyses suggest perceived decreases in 4-year-old and total enrollment and increased teacher recruitment difficulty and competition for teachers since UPK was introduced. Larger centers and those offering full-day programming more often reported changes in teacher recruitment and retention than smaller centers and those offering part-day programming only. Implications for state pre-K policy are discussed.
Lower bounds on deformations of dynamically loaded rigid-plastic continua

Impulsively loaded rigid plastic continua deformation lower bounds calculation, considering beams and plates
Improving memory energy using access pattern classification

In this paper, we propose a data-driven strategy to optimize the memory energy consumption in a banked memory system. Our compiler-based strategy modifies the original execution order of loop iterations in array-dominated applications to increase the length of the time period(s) in which memory banks are idle (i.e., not accessed by any loop iteration). To achieve this, it first classifies loop iterations according to their bank access patterns and then, with the help of a polyhedral tool, tries to bring the iterations with similar bank access patterns close together. Increasing the idle periods of memory banks brings two major benefits; first, it allows us to place more memory banks into low-power operating modes, and second, it enables us to use a more aggressive (i.e., more energy saving) operating mode for a given bank. Our strategy has been evaluated using seven array-dominated applications on both a cacheless system and a system with cache memory. Our results indicate that the strategy is very successful in reducing the memory system energy, and improves the memory energy by as much as 34% on the average.
Immigration, below-replacement fertility, and long-term national population trends.

The long-term demographic effects of immigration on a population experiencing below-replacement fertility are studied by assuming that the size and age composition of the immigrant population do not change over time. The size of the first-generation immigrant population becomes stationary within a time period not greater than the human life span. Thereafter, the number dying equals the number entering over any given time interval. The stationarity of the native population, among which deaths exceed births, is maintained by the compensating number of births to the immigrant population. The limiting age distribution of the country’s population, although stationary, may not decline monotonically with age and may look like a camel’s back, with one or two humps.
Mid-infrared matrix assisted laser desorption ionization with a water/glycerol matrix

Abstract Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectra were obtained using a water and glycerol matrix with a tunable mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator. The matrix consists of a 1:1 mixture of water and glycerol deposited on a thin layer of nitrocellulose and cooled to −30°C. When exposed to vacuum, most of the water evaporates, leaving a matrix of glycerol with residual water. The peptide bradykinin and the protein bovine insulin were used to test this new matrix. Mass spectra were obtained for bradykinin between 2.76 and 3.1 μ m with the maximum analyte signal at 2.8 μ m. Mass resolution in excess of 2000 for bradykinin and 500 for insulin was obtained with delayed ion extraction and a linear time of flight mass spectrometer. The addition of nitrocellulose to the matrix resulted in exceptionally durable samples: more than 10,000 laser shots which produced analyte signal could be obtained from a single sample spot.
Microbial, Enzymatic, and Chemical Changes During Storage of Fresh and Processed Orange Juice

Microbial, enzymatic, and chemical comparisons were made on orange juice stored at 4°C without pasteurization, with light pasteurization (66°C, 10 sec) directed at vegetative microorganisms, and with full pasteurization (90°C, 60 sec) directed at the heat stable isozyme of pectinesterase. Effects of oxygen-barrier and nonbarrier packaging were also examined. Oxygen-barrier packaging did not benefit unpasteurized juice. However, lightly and fully pasteurized juices in barrier cartons exhibited lower microbial counts, greater ascorbic acid retention, and apparent slowing of cloud loss by the third week of storage. During the first 22 days storage, microbial, cloud, sugar, and ascorbic acid values for lightly pasteurized juice were similar to those of juice receiving full pasteurization.
An Inductive Exploration of Manuscript Quality and Publication Success in Small Research Teams

The Journal of Business and Psychology (JBP) is dedicated to publishing high-quality and impactful research with the ultimate goals of advancing our science of work and organizations (Rogelberg 2009). To promote this end, we examined three years of JBP author, manuscript, and reviewer data in the hopes of gleaning insights into potential drivers of manuscript quality and publication success for authorship teams. Although the great majority of research in the organizational sciences is conducted in teams (Acedo et al. 2006; Wuchty et al. 2007), an extensive literature review revealed scant empirical work investigating team factors related to manuscript quality. This opportunity prompted a collaborative effort between the Journal of Business and Psychology and the Journal of Management to conduct a parallel study of author team composition, decisions, activities, and manuscript quality. The goal of this collaboration is to start a multi-faceted conversation around potential avenues for current and future authors to promote scholarly impact in their research. This paper focuses on small research/authorship teams, comprised of two, three, or four members, who have submitted papers to Journal of Business and Psychology. We examine a number of team factors, such as team composition and experiential resources, team communication, and team publication-related development activities prior to submitting the paper for publication. For each of these areas, we assess how they relate to both overall reviewer ratings of quality and editor decisions. Using a reflective inductive approach, we highlight and discuss the most interesting findings. Finally, after discussing our limitations, we offer suggestions for future research directions around the domain of the science of organizational scholarship with the goal of encouraging such submissions to the Journal of Business and Psychology.
Observation of lower hybrid drift instability in the diffusion region at a reconnecting magnetopause

[1] Intense lower hybrid waves are observed in the Hall current region of a reconnecting current sheet at the earth's magnetopause. Large measured cross-field drifts and density gradients are the likely sources of free energy through a lower hybrid drift instability (LHDI), which is stabilized near the neutral point where the plasma β is large. Harris neutral sheet and linear models are fitted to the data and inferred current density profiles are compared to the observed current density from particle measurements. We estimate the contribution of LHDI anomalous resistivity to the parallel electric field and show that it is more than 100 times smaller than the measured parallel field at the separator boundaries and essentially zero near the neutral point, leaving gradient electron pressure tensor and inertial terms or anomalous resistivity from higher frequency instabilities to support any parallel fields there and, hence, control the reconnection process.
A study of polyurethanes synthesized from an arylsilane, bis(4,4′‐phenylisocyanato)dimethylsilane, and its carbon analog, 2,2‐bis(4,4′‐phenylisocyanato)propane

Bis(4,4′-phenylisocyanato) dimethylsilane (SiDI) and 2,2-bis (4,4′-phenylisocyanato)propane (PrDI) were synthesized, polymerized to polyurethanes, and their chemical, thermal and physical properties studied. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra confirm deshielding by silicon of both the phenyl ring and the urethane linkage. The glass transition temperatures, solubility parameters, and mechanical properties were independent of the diisocyanates. The silicon containing polyurethanes are more thermally stable than their carbon counterparts. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Protein Sequences from Mastodon and Tyrannosaurus Rex Revealed by Mass Spectrometry

Fossilized bones from extinct taxa harbor the potential for obtaining protein or DNA sequences that could reveal evolutionary links to extant species. We used mass spectrometry to obtain protein sequences from bones of a 160,000- to 600,000-year-old extinct mastodon (Mammut americanum) and a 68-million-year-old dinosaur (Tyrannosaurus rex). The presence of T. rex sequences indicates that their peptide bonds were remarkably stable. Mass spectrometry can thus be used to determine unique sequences from ancient organisms from peptide fragmentation patterns, a valuable tool to study the evolution and adaptation of ancient taxa from which genomic sequences are unlikely to be obtained.
Cognitive Social Learning Variables and the Characteristics of Leaders1

This study explored the potential of a person × situation approach to identifying the characteristics of leaders in a voluntary community organization. A set of variables based on Mischel's “cognitive social learning variables” was operationalized to provide variables which assess the characteristics of individuals in relation to the specific context in which some emerge as leaders. This set of variables was compared with a larger set of traditional demographic and personality variables. Analyses indicated the approximate statistical comparability of the two sets. Advantages of the cognitive social learning approach for understanding and intervening in leader emergence and development in voluntary community organizations are discussed.
Infinite-dilution viscoelastic properties of poly-gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate in helicogenic solvents.

The storage and loss shear moduli, G, and G˝, have been measured for solutions of three samples of poly-γ-benzyl-L-glutamate with molecular weights from 16 to 57 × 104, by use of the Birnboim-Schrag multiple-lumped resonator. The frequency range was 106 to 6060 Hz, the concentration range 0.0015–0.005 g/ml, and the temperature 25°C. Two helicogenic solvents with widely different viscosities, dimethylformamide and m-cresol, were used to provide a broader effective frequency range. The intrinsic moduli, extrapolated to infinite dilution, were compared with the predictions of the theory of Ullman for rigid rods; agreement was rather good at the lowest frequencies, but unsatisfactory at high frequencies. The data over the entire frequency range of three of logarithmic decades could be described closely by a relaxation spectrum consisting of one terminal relaxation time separated by a gap from a sequence of relaxtion times spaced as in the Zimm theory. The terminal time agrees approximately with that calculated for end-over-end rotation of a rigid rod. The additional relaxation mechanisms are tentatively attributed to modes of flexural deformation of the helix.
Efficient Electromechanical Network Models for Wireless Acoustic- Electric Feed-throughs

There are numerous engineering design problems where the use of wires to transfer power and communicate data thru the walls of a structure is prohibitive or significantly difficult that it may require a complex design. Such systems may be concerned with the leakage of chemicals or gasses, loss of pressure or vacuum, as well as difficulties in providing adequate thermal or electrical insulation. Moreover, feeding wires thru a wall of a structure reduces the strength of the structure and makes the structure susceptibility to cracking due to fatigue that can result from cyclic loading. Two areas have already been identified to require a wireless alternative capability and they include (a) the container of the Mars Sample Return Mission will need the use of wireless sensors to sense pressure leak and to avoid potential contamination; and (b) the Navy is seeking the capability to communicate with the crew or the instrumentation inside marine structures without the use of wires that will weaken the structure. The idea of using elastic or acoustic waves to transfer power was suggested recently by Y. Hu, et al. 1 . However, the disclosed model was developed directly from the wave equation and the linear equations of piezoelectricity. This model restricted by an inability to incorporate head and tail mass and account for loss in all the mechanisms. In addition there is no mechanism for connecting the model to actual power processing circuitry (diode bridge, capacitors, rectifiers etc.). An alternative approach which is to be presented is a network equivalent circuit that can easily be modified to account for additional acoustic elements and connected directly to other networks or circuits. All the possible loss mechanisms of the disclosed solution can be accounted for and introduced into the model. The circuit model allows for both power and data transmission in the forward and reverse directions through acoustic signals at the harmonic and higher order resonances. This system allows or the avoidance of cabling or wiring. The technology is applicable to the transfer of power for actuation, sensing and other tasks inside sealed containers and vacuum/pressure vessels.
Clinical applications of slow channel blocking compounds.

Abstract The slow-channel blockers constitute a structurally diverse group of drugs with varying mechanisms of action, propensities for site of greatest cardiovascular activity, and clinical efficacy. They share however the property of blocking the slow inward channel in heart muscle and of inhibiting calcium fluxes in smooth muscle. Their in vivo and in vitro actions must be distinguished. The overall actions represent a balance of direct and autonomically-mediated reflex actions interacting with the compounds' varying degrees of intrinsic non-competitive sympathetic antagonism. A knowledge of the pharmacodynamic differences between these drugs allows the physician to select the most appropriate agent for a given clinical situation. The central role of calcium in the cellular processes in the heart and the vascular system forms the basis for the utility of this class of drugs in a wide variety of cardiovascular disorders. Current intensive experimental and clinical investigations are likely to further define the roles of nifedipine, verapamil and diltiazem and their congeners in cardiovascular therapeutics. The prospect of development of newer compounds with greater selectivity of action is real. As pointed out by Braunwald (1982 a,b), with further clarification of the mechanisms of actions of these compounds and elucidation of the role of calcium fluxes throughout the body, more specific and potent agents may be developed. The apparent efficacy of the nifedipine congener nimodipine, in the treatment of cerebral vasospasm associated with subarachnoid hemorrhage (Allen et al., 1983) may simply be the first of a large number of ‘specific’ or targeted slow channel blockers. The development of such compounds may offer further therapeutic possibilities in the control of a variety of cardiocirculatory diseases.
Investigation of 1,1‐diphenylethylene Oligomerization in the End‐Capping Reaction of Poly(styryl)lithium

Summary: The possible oligomerization of 1,1-diphenylethylene (DPE) in the end-capping reaction of poly(styryl)lithium (PSLi) was studied in hydrocarbon solvents using excess DPE (≤16 mol-eq); the effect of addition of THF (30 mol-eq Lewis base) and extended times of reaction (8-24 h) were also investigated. The characterization of the polymers was made by size exclusion chromatography (SEC), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). MALDI- TOF mass spectrometric results revealed the absence of DPE oligomerization under the reaction conditions used in this study.
A Novel Single Molecular Signature for Discriminating DNA Unzipping in a Nanopore

Using nanopore for DNA unzipping has been extensively studied. By measuring the voltage-dependent duration of current blocks produced by the unzipping process, one can evaluate the force and energy involved in the double strands hybridization. However, in the real-time biosensing, other molecules co-existing in the mixture may also produce blocks in similar amplitude and duration. Therefore a characteristic current signature is needed to discriminate the unzipping signal from other blockades. Here we identify a novel molecular signature that can reveal sequential steps in DNA unzipping in the nanopore. When the double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) containing a single-stranded tag at the terminal is trapped in the α-hemolysin pore from the cis mouth, the tag initially sticks into the β-barrel by blocking the pore to Level 1 (15% of the full conductance, +150 mV), whereas the double-stranded section is stopped from entering due to its wider dimension than the entry of β-barrel. Once the unzipping occurs, the longer ssDNA (with the tag) first runs through the β-barrel and leaves the pore from the trans opening driven by the voltage, while the shorter ssDNA remain trapped in the nanocavity of the pore. This configuration gives rise to the less blocking Level 2 (38% of the full conductance). After waiting in the nanocavity for hundreds of microseconds, the shorter ssDNA ultimately traverses the β -barrel, switching the conductance back to Level 1. This unique molecular signature functions as a marker, enabling us to recognize the binding of a dsDNA and its unzipping process, therefore is useful for discriminating different sources of blocks in real-time biosensing.
Epidemiology of stroke in chronic heart failure patients with normal sinus rhythm: Findings from the DIG stroke sub-study

Abstract Background Little is known about the epidemiology of stroke in chronic systolic and diastolic heart failure (HF) patients in normal sinus rhythm (NSR) receiving angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. Because all HF patients in the Digitalis Investigation Group (DIG) trial ( N =7788) were in NSR and nearly all were receiving ACE inhibitors, a survey-based stroke-sub-study was conducted but its findings have never been published. Methods DIG investigators confirmed a total 222 cases of stroke of which 144 had neurological deficit ≥24 h. We used logistic regression models to determine predictors of incident stroke among all 7788 patients and predictors of neurological deficit ≥24 h and all-cause mortality among 222 stroke patients. Results Age ≥65 years (adjusted odds ratio {AOR}, 1.36; 95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.02–1.80; P =0.035), nonwhite race (AOR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.42–0.99; P =0.047), hypertension (AOR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.11–1.94; P =0.008), diabetes mellitus (AOR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.03–1.82; P =0.030), and cardiomegaly (AOR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.03–1.86; P =0.030) were independent predictors of stroke. However, among those with stroke, nonwhites had higher odds of neurological deficits ≥24 h (AOR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.01–8.07; P =0.047) and death (AOR, 3.28; 95% CI, 1.30–8.30; P =0.012). Conclusion Older age, hypertension, diabetes and cardiomegaly were associated with increased incidence of stroke among HF patients with NSR receiving ACE inhibitors. The association of race and stroke, however, was complex. While nonwhite race was associated with decreased risk of stroke, among those with stroke, nonwhite race was associated with increased stroke severity and mortality.
Ultrafast submicron thermal characterization of integrated circuits

Static and dynamic hot spots limit the performance and reliability of electronic devices and ICs. We show that transient thermoreflectance imaging using a CCD camera can measure temperature distribution in chips with 0.1 °C temperature, 100 nanosecond time, and submicron spatial resolution. It is possible to measure the temperature on metal interconnects in wire-bonded chips and, with through-the-substrate infrared illumination, at the transistor level in flip-chip packages. Recent results in transient thermal imaging of GaN transistors, ESD protection devices, solar cells, and LEDs are presented. We show it is possible to identify non-uniform temperature rise and defects in 200 to 300 nm interconnect vias that have been stressed at high temperatures. Power blurring techniques can be used to obtain transient temperature profiles in packaged IC chips with a calculation time orders of magnitude faster than finite element analysis. The technique is well suited to solve the inverse problem and extract the power dissipation profile from the measured thermal map.
Cytogenetic variability within and across populations of Cebus apella in Argentina.

Two geographically separated populations of Cebus apella are found in Argentina. We have found important differences in the phenotypic characteristics of these populations, despite marked karyotypic s
Earnings Predictability, Bond Ratings, and Bond Yields

We examine the role that earnings predictability plays in establishing a firm’s cost of debt capital by measuring its influence on establishing a new issue’s bond rating. In addition, we also examine the effects of earnings predictability on the initial pricing of the firm’s debt. Using new corporate bond issues from the period 1990–2000, our results indicate that the degree of predictability of a firm’s earnings is positively associated with a firm’s bond rating. Moreover, earnings predictability is also documented to be negatively associated with the offering yield. Importantly, bond rating classification accuracy is improved when specific measures of a firm’s earnings predictability are added to a robust model.
Participatory Action Research Designs in Applied Disability and Rehabilitation Science: Protecting Against Threats to Social Validity

Researchers and disability advocates have been debating consumer involvement in disability and rehabilitation science since at least 1972. Despite the length of this debate, much confusion remains. Consumer involvement may represent a spirit of democracy or even empowerment, but as a tool of science, it is necessary to understand how to judge its application. To realize consumer involvement as a design element in science, researchers need a framework for understanding how it can contribute to the scientific process. The thesis of this article is that a primary scientific function of consumer involvement is to reduce threats to the social validity of research, the extent to which those expected to use or benefit from research products judge them as useful and actually use them. Social validity has traditionally not been treated with the same rigor as concerns for internal and external validity. This article presents a framework that describes 7 threats to social validity and explains how 15 forms of consumer involvement protect against those threats. We also suggest procedures for reporting and reviewing consumer involvement in proposals and manuscripts. This framework offers tools familiar to all scientists for identifying threats to the quality of research, and for judging the effectiveness of strategies for protecting against those threats. It may also enhance the standing of consumer involvement strategies as tools for protecting research quality by organizing them in a way that allows for systematic criticism of their effectiveness and subsequent improvement.
Insight into Wind Turbine Stall and Post-stall Aerodynamics

The objective of this study was to evaluate measured NASA Ames Unsteady Aerodynamic Experiment post-stall blade element data and to provide guidelines for developing an empirical approach that predicts post-stall aerofoil characteristics. Blade element data were analysed from the five radial stations of the baseline 5·03 m radius rotor. A lifting surface/prescribed wake performance prediction method was used to determine a reference angle of attack that corresponds to the measured blade element data. Using the measured normal and tangential force coefficients and estimated angle of attack, spanwise distributions of lift and drag performance characteristics were derived along with the circulation distributions. Guidelines for a new stall and post-stall model based on the measured trends in the aerofoil performance characteristics, along with flat plate theory, are proposed for predicting the peak and post-peak power. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Super Toughened Poly(lactic acid) Ternary Blends by Simultaneous Dynamic Vulcanization and Interfacial Compatibilization

In this study, a poly(lactic acid) (PLA) ternary blend system consisting of PLA, an epoxy-containing elastomer, and a zinc ionomer was introduced and studied in detail. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the “salami”-like phase structure was formed in the ternary blends. While increase in blending temperature had little effects on the tensile properties of the resulting blends, it greatly changed the impact strength. For the blends prepared at 240 °C by extrusion blending, the resulting PLA ternary blends displayed supertoughness with moderate levels of strength and modulus. It was found that the zinc ions catalyzed the cross-linking of epoxy-containing elastomer and also promoted the reactive compatibilization at the interface of PLA and the elastomer. Both blending temperature and elastomer/ionomer ratio were found to play important roles in achieving supertoughness of the blends. The significant increase in notched impact strength was attributed to the effective interfacial compatibilizatio...
Decoding Temporal Information: A Model Based on Short-Term Synaptic Plasticity

In the current paper it is proposed that short-term plasticity and dynamic changes in the balance of excitatory-inhibitory interactions may underlie the decoding of temporal information, that is, the generation of temporally selective neurons. Our initial approach was to simulate excitatory-inhibitory disynaptic circuits. Such circuits were composed of a single excitatory and inhibitory neuron and incorporated short-term plasticity of EPSPs and IPSPs and slow IPSPs. We first showed that it is possible to tune cells to respond selectively to different intervals by changing the synaptic weights of different synapses in parallel. In other words, temporal tuning can rely on long-term changes in synaptic strength and does not require changes in the time constants of the temporal properties. When the units studied in disynaptic circuits were incorporated into a larger single-layer network, the units exhibited a broad range of temporal selectivity ranging from no interval tuning to interval-selective tuning. The variability in temporal tuning relied on the variability of synaptic strengths. The network as a whole contained a robust population code for a wide range of intervals. Importantly, the same network was able to discriminate simple temporal sequences. These results argue that neural circuits are intrinsically able to process temporal information on the time scale of tens to hundreds of milliseconds and that specialized mechanisms, such as delay lines or oscillators, may not be necessary.
Demographic Growth Analysis

We present demographic growth analysis, a hybrid approach that retains the formal mathematical structure of growth analysis, while incorporating the advantages of modular demography.
Response to Letter Regarding Article, “Pharmacodynamic Effects of Different Aspirin Dosing Regimens in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients With Coronary Artery Disease”

We appreciate the constructive comments raised by Santos et al regarding our article in which we showed that increasing the frequency of administration of low-dose aspirin has more potent platelet inhibitory effects than increasing the daily dose in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.1 Indeed, our analysis has several consistencies in findings from those demonstrated by Santos et al in their previous investigation.2 The authors correctly raise an important observation regarding a potential cause that may interfere with aspirin-induced pharmacodynamic effects mediated by cell-cell interactions, namely platelets and …
Why primates don’t fly

Copyright: © 2012 Rothschild BM, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Primates have an especially long and highly arboreal evolutionary history [1], parallel to that of birds [2]. Birds developed powered flight, whereas primates had less lofty aims. Birds and primates are analogously wired for shoulder muscle functions that initially supported climbing and that were subsequently adapted for aerial activity [3-7]. Novel differences in pectoral girdle anatomy advantageous bird flight through ecotrophism. Ecotrophism is the propensity for life to expand into ecologic niches, with analogous organisms, but not necessarily related to or by the same evolutionary pathway.
A comparative study of classification methods for gesture recognition using a 3-axis accelerometer

We used Fisher linear discriminant analysis (LDA), static neural networks (NN), and focused time delay neural networks (TDNN) for gesture recognition. Gestures were collected in form of acceleration signals along three axes from six participants. A sports watch containing a 3-axis accelerometer, was worn by the users, who performed four gestures. Each gesture was performed for ten seconds, at the speed of one gesture per second. User-dependent and user-independent k-fold cross validations were carried out to measure the classifier performance. Using first and second order statistical descriptors of acceleration signals from validation datasets, LDA and NN classifiers were able to recognize the gestures at an average rate of 86% and 97% (user-dependent) and 89% and 85% (user-independent), respectively. TDNNs proved to be the best, achieving near perfect classification rates both for user-dependent and user-independent scenarios, while operating directly on the acceleration signals alleviating the need for explicit feature extraction.
The political economy of movement and gesture in Cairo

Based on fieldwork in Cairo, this article shows how analysis of bodily practice and of political economy – two fields that anthropologists have treated as completely separate – intersect in important ways. I provide conceptual tools to solve a common ethnographic dilemma: how can members of a group with no official status, no distinguishing marks of ethnicity, religious difference, race, recognize others who share that identity? I argue that the embodied practice in which the historically constituted identity of sha‘abi people in Cairo is evinced lies in the realm of gesture, while the embodied practice through which status as a pious Muslim is evinced lies in the realm of significant symbol. I further argue that gestural resources of poor people of Cairo can usefully be analysed as a ‘semiotic commons’ and ‘collective good’ in the political economy of Egypt. Resume Sur la base d’un travail de terrain au Caire, l’auteure met en lumiere des recoupements importants entre l’analyse des pratiques corporelles et celle de l’economie politique, deux domaines que les anthropologues ont separes. Elle fournit des outils conceptuels visant a resoudre un dilemme ethnographique frequent : comment les membres d’un groupe ne disposant d’aucun statut officiel, d’aucune marque distinctive d’appartenance ethnique, de difference religieuse ou de race, reconnaissent-ils ceux qui partagent leur identite. L’auteure affirme que la pratique incorporee dans laquelle s’inscrit l’identite, constituee historiquement, des sha’abi cairotes est de l’ordre du geste, tandis que la pratique incorporee marquant le statut de musulman pieux est de l’ordre du symbole signifiant. Elle affirme en outre que les ressources gestuelles des populations pauvres du Caire peuvent etre analysees utilement comme des « communs semiotiques » et comme un « bien collectif » dans l’economie politique egyptienne.
Mechanical properties of chitosan films: Effect of solvent acid

The apparent Young's modulus shows a linear relationship with junction density of chitosan films. The linear relationship of apparent Young's modulus with chitosan concentration is also observed. The linear relationship depends of the acid used in the casting solution. Relaxation times were of the order of 104 seconds, indicating a slow physical process. Stress-relaxation behavior of swollen chitosan films, prepared by solvent casting from dilute acetic or propionic acid solutions, can be represented by a one-component Maxwell model.
Evidence for a closing gender gap in alcohol use, abuse, and dependence in the United States population.

Abstract Background Descriptively, male–female differences in alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorders appear to have decreased in birth cohorts reaching adulthood since the 1970s compared to earlier birth cohorts. However, such birth cohort effects on gender differences have never been statistically tested in nationally representative data. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that gender differences in alcohol consumption, abuse, and dependence are decreasing over time. Methods Face-to-face survey conducted in the 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions among those aged Findings Birth cohort and gender interacted significantly in predicting lifetime largest drinks (F = 27.6, [d.f. = 3], p Conclusion These results suggest that gender differences in the prevalence of all four outcomes are decreasing in younger age cohorts. While these changes are consistent with a cohort effect, the possibility of age and period effects cannot be ruled out but suggest important avenues for more specific hypothesis testing. Further, women in younger cohorts may be in need of new targeted prevention and intervention efforts.
Person-Centered Dream Work:

Person-centered writers have contributed little to our understanding of the role and purpose of dreams or to their use in therapy. This article seeks to address this gap in the literature and propo...
An E. coli Gene emrD Is Involved in Adaptation to Low Energy Shock

E. coli adapt to uncouplers in the presence of a non-fermentable carbon source. Adaptation is accompanied by the restoration of the proton motive force and ATP. A collection of uncoupler-sensitive Tn,lacZ,kan fusion strains was obtained by ampicillin enrichment in the presence of TSA. One of the fusion strains was induced by uncouplers. The fusion gene emrD was mapped to min. 83.1, cloned and sequenced. EmrD is a member of the major facilitator family of pmf-dependent translocases and is homologous to a number of bacterial multidrug resistance pumps. Resistance to some uncouplers including TTFB was not affected by emrD, and growth recovery to this uncoupler was very sluggish. It is suggested that EmrD is a new bacterial multidrug resistance pump that participates in a low energy shock adaptive response.
Exploring the next great frontier: system dynamics at fifty

This note introduces the special issue of the System Dynamics Review celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the field. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Proteomic analysis of ovarian cancer proximal fluids: validation of elevated peroxiredoxin 1 in patient peripheral circulation.

Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the deadliest gynecologic malignancy in the United States. Unfortunately, a validated protein biomarker-screening test to detect early stage disease from peripheral blood has not yet been developed. The present investigation assesses the ability to identify tumor relevant proteins from ovarian cancer proximal fluids, including tissue interstitial fluid (TIF) and corresponding ascites, from patients with papillary serous EOC and translates these findings to targeted blood-based immunoassays. Methodology/Principal Findings: Paired TIF and ascites collected from four papillary serous EOC patients at the time of surgery underwent immunodepletion, resolution by 1D gel electrophoresis and in-gel digestion for analysis by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, which resulted in an aggregate identification of 569 and 171 proteins from TIF and ascites, respectively. Of these, peroxiredoxin I (PRDX1) was selected for validation in serum by ELISA and demonstrated to be present and significantly elevated (p=0.0188) in 20 EOC patients with a mean level of 26.0 ng/mL (69.27 SEM) as compared to 4.19 ng/mL (62.58 SEM) from 16 patients with normal/benign ovarian pathology. Conclusions/Significance: We have utilized a workflow for harvesting EOC-relevant proximal biofluids, including TIF and ascites, for proteomic analysis. Among the differentially abundant proteins identified from these proximal fluids, PRDX1 was demonstrated to be present in serum and shown by ELISA to be elevated by nearly 6-fold in papillary serous EOC patients relative to normal/benign patients. Our findings demonstrate the facile ability to discover potential EOC-relevant proteins in proximal fluids and confirm their presence in peripheral blood serum. In addition, our finding of elevated levels of PRDX1 in the serum of EOC patients versus normal/benign patients warrants further evaluation as a tumor specific biomarker for EOC.
Selection of the dominant follicle in cattle occurs in the absence of differences in the expression of messenger ribonucleic acid for gonadotropin receptors

Mechanisms that allow selection of a dominant ovarian follicle from a cohort of growing follicles are unknown. Large healthy, estrogen-active follicles contain more LH receptors than atretic estrogen-inactive follicles, and levels of messenger RNA (mRNA) for LH receptor increase in the granulosa cells of dominant follicles as growth progresses. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that changes in the temporal pattern of expression of mRNA for LH and FSH receptors are associated with selection of dominant follicles in cattle. Based on size, the dominant and two largest subordinate follicles were collected from the ovaries of heifers on days 2 (n = 3) or 3 (n = 3) of a follicular wave. On day 2, the dominant follicle was 1 mm larger than the largest subordinate follicle, but by day 3 of the wave the dominant follicle was 2-4 mm larger than the largest subordinate. Follicular fluid concentrations of estradiol and estradiol secretion in vitro by pieces of follicle wall (granulosa and theca cells) were greatest by the dominant compared with the subordinate follicles (P 0.05). The expression of mRNA for aromatase in granulosa cells was similar (P > 0.05) between the dominant follicles on days 2 and 3 and the largest subordinate follicle on day 2 of the follicular wave and was much lower in the remaining follicles (P < 0.01). On day 2 of the wave, the expression of mRNA for 17alpha-OH was not different between the dominant and subordinate follicles, but by day 3 the dominant follicles had more mRNA for 17alpha-OH than the subordinate follicles (P < 0.05). These data show that the dominant follicle had been selected by the second day of the follicular wave (based on diameter and estradiol secretion) and that selection occurred in the absence of detectable levels of mRNA for LH receptor in the granulosa cells or differences between dominant and subordinate follicles in mRNA for LH receptor in theca cells or FSH receptor in granulosa cells. However, the divergent pattern of growth between dominant and subordinate follicles (after follicle selection) was associated with higher levels of mRNA for gonadotropin receptors and steroidogenic enzymes in dominant compared with subordinate follicles. Therefore, selection of the dominant follicle in cattle does not appear to involve the regulation of expression of mRNA for gonadotropin receptors, although such regulation may be important at other stages of differentiation of the dominant follicle.
A Numerical Model of the Vertical Circulation of Tidal Estuaries and its Application to the Rotterdam Waterway

Summary A two-dimensional numerical model has been developed to represent the vertical structure of current and salinity along an estuary of varying width and depth but with a rectangular cross-section. The governing equations, which express the conservation of volume, momentum and salt content, are solved by a finite difference initial-value method. The finite difference grid is arranged to cover the vertical profile of the estuary so that the free surface moves vertically through the grid points. Thus the surface elevation and the profiles of current and salinity are determined throughout the tidal period as the equations are integrated stepwise through time. The model has been applied to the Rotterdam Waterway and the resulting distributions have been compared with field data from surveys by the Rijkswaterstaat of the Netherlands, made available for this study by the late Dr J. J. Dronkers. Reasonable agreement has been obtained and to this extent the ability of the model to reproduce the general features of estuarine circulation has been established.
A Set of Highly Conserved RNA-binding Proteins, αCP-1 and αCP-2, Implicated in mRNA Stabilization, Are Coexpressed from an Intronless Gene and Its Intron-containing Paralog

Abstract Gene families normally expand by segmental genomic duplication and subsequent sequence divergence. Although copies of partially or fully processed mRNA transcripts are occasionally retrotransposed into the genome, they are usually nonfunctional (“processed pseudogenes”). The two major cytoplasmic poly(C)-binding proteins in mammalian cells, αCP-1 and αCP-2, are implicated in a spectrum of post-transcriptional controls. These proteins are highly similar in structure and are encoded by closely related mRNAs. Based on this close relationship, we were surprised to find that one of these proteins, αCP-2, was encoded by a multiexon gene, whereas the second gene, αCP-1, was identical to and colinear with its mRNA. The αCP-1 and αCP-2 genes were shown to be single copy and were mapped to separate chromosomes. The linkage groups encompassing each of the two loci were concordant between mice and humans. These data suggested that the αCP-1 gene was generated by retrotransposition of a fully processed αCP-2 mRNA and that this event occurred well before the mammalian radiation. The stringent structural conservation of αCP-1 and its ubiquitous tissue distribution suggested that the retrotransposed αCP-1 gene was rapidly recruited to a function critical to the cell and distinct from that of its αCP-2 progenitor.