cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Role of Transcription Factors and Nuclear Pore Proteins in Controlling the Spatial Organization of the Yeast Genome

Summary Loss of nuclear pore complex (NPC) proteins, transcription factors (TFs), histone modification enzymes, Mediator, and factors involved in mRNA export disrupts the physical interaction of chromosomal sites with NPCs. Conditional inactivation and ectopic tethering experiments support a direct role for the TFs Gcn4 and Nup2 in mediating interaction with the NPC but suggest an indirect role for factors involved in mRNA export or transcription. A conserved “positioning domain” within Gcn4 controls interaction with the NPC and inter-chromosomal clustering and promotes transcription of target genes. Such a function may be quite common; a comprehensive screen reveals that tethering of most yeast TFs is sufficient to promote targeting to the NPC. While some TFs require Nup100, others do not, suggesting two distinct targeting mechanisms. These results highlight an important and underappreciated function of TFs in controlling the spatial organization of the yeast genome through interaction with the NPC.
Care Setting as a Modifiable Predictor of Perioperative Cost and Outcomes following Elective Urinary Stone Surgery

AbstractIntroduction:We sought to identify predictors of index surgical care setting and to determine if care setting influences risk adjusted perioperative costs and/or 30-day revisits following e...
Breast Cancer Treatment Delays at an Urban Safety Net Hospital Among Women Experiencing Homelessness

Disparities in outcomes for vulnerable women is an ongoing problem. Homelessness and breast cancer treatment outcomes is understudied. This is a descriptive study exploring types of homelessness and treatment delays at an urban safety net hospital providing care to a vulnerable patient population.This study is a retrospective chart review of homeless female patients diagnosed with breast cancer between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2014. Data for this study were acquired from the hospital cancer registry and electronic medical record. All demographic characteristics, time to treatment and factors related to delays to treatment were analyzed descriptively, reporting frequencies and proportions. The total number of individuals analyzed was 24. All except two subjects were delayed to treatment (≥ 30 days from diagnosis to treatment). Most women in this cohort were categorized as chronically homeless (46%) with the rest categorized as transitionally (29%) or episodically (12%) homeless. The majority of subjects (70%) were Black, non-Hispanic. All except one subject were publicly insured (71% Medicaid; 12% Medicare) or uninsured (8%). Regardless of type of homelessness, most subjects were either 30–60 or 60–90 days delayed. Those who were chronically homeless experienced significantly more delays to first treatment (56% of those who were delayed 30–60 days and 57% of those who were delayed 60–90 days; p value 0.006) than those who were episodically or transitionally homeless. Significant delays and barriers to breast cancer treatment exist among women experiencing homelessness. Further studies to improve breast cancer care for homeless women are warranted.
Magnetically controlled growing rods in the treatment of early onset scoliosis: a single centre experience of 44 patients with mean follow-up of 4.1 years.

Aims Magnetically controlled growing rods (MCGR) have been gaining popularity in the management of early-onset scoliosis (EOS) over the past decade. We present our experience with the first 44 MCGR consecutive cases treated at our institution. Methods This is a retrospective review of consecutive cases of MCGR performed in our institution between 2012 and 2018. This cohort consisted of 44 children (25 females and 19 males), with a mean age of 7.9 years (3.7 to 13.6). There were 41 primary cases and three revisions from other rod systems. The majority (38 children) had dual rods. The group represents a mixed aetiology including idiopathic (20), neuromuscular (13), syndromic (9), and congenital (2). The mean follow-up was 4.1 years, with a minimum of two years. Nine children graduated to definitive fusion. We evaluated radiological parameters of deformity correction (Cobb angle), and spinal growth (T1-T12 and T1-S1 heights), as well as complications during the course of treatment. Results The mean Cobb angles pre-operatively, postoperatively, and at last follow-up were 70° (53 to 103), 35° (15 to 71) and 39° (15 to 65) respectively (p < 0.001). Further, there was a mean of 14° (-6 to 27) of additional Cobb angle correction upon graduation from MCGR to definitive fusion. Both T1-T12 and T1-S1 showed significant increase in heights of 27 mm and 45 mm respectively at last follow-up (p < 0.001). Ten children (23%) developed 18 complications requiring 21 unplanned operations. Independent risk factors for developing a complication were single rod constructs and previous revision surgery. Conclusion MCGR has the benefit of avoiding multiple surgeries, and is an effective tool in treatment of early-onset scoliosis. It also maintains the flexibility of the spine, allowing further correction at the time of definitive fusion.Cite this article: Bone Joint Open 2020;1-7:405-414.
Semi-Supervised Machine Learning for Spacecraft Anomaly Detection & Diagnosis

This paper describes Anomaly Detection via Topological-feature Map (ADTM), a data-driven approach to Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) for monitoring the health of spacecraft and space habitats. Developed for NASA Ames Research Center, ADTM leverages proven artificial intelligence techniques for rapidly detecting and diagnosing anomalies in near real-time. ADTM combines Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs) as the basis for modeling system behavior with supervised machine learning techniques for localizing detected anomalies. A SOM is a two-layer artificial neural network (ANN) that produces a low-dimensional representation of the training samples. Once trained on normal system behavior, SOMs are adept at detecting behavior previously not encountered in the training data. Upon detecting anomalous behavior, ADTM uses a supervised classification approach to determine a subset of measurands that characterize the anomaly. This allows it to localize faults and thereby provide extra insight. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on telemetry data collected from a lab-stationed CubeSat (the “LabSat”) connected to software that gave us the ability to trigger several real hardware faults. We include an analysis and discussion of ADTM's performance on several of these fault cases. We conclude with a brief discussion of future work, which contains investigation of a hierarchical SOM-architecture as well as a Case-Based Reasoning module for further assisting astronauts in diagnosis and remediation activities.
Evaluating the substantivity of silver diamine fluoride in a dentin model.

OBJECTIVES The goal of endodontic therapy is to prevent apical periodontitis. This is achieved by biomechanical preparation, microbial control using endodontic irrigants, and complete obturation of the canal space. In order to prevent possible post-obturation complications and for an added antimicrobial effect, substantivity is a desired characteristic of endodontic irrigants. Currently the most commonly used endodontic irrigant that produces an antibacterial substantivity effect is chlorohexidine (CHX). Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is a topically applied agent for managing dental caries and has shown to stop caries lesion progression. The objective of this study was to compare the antimicrobial substantivity effect of 3.8% SDF against other commonly used endodontic irrigants such as 2% CHX and 6.25% Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). MATERIAL AND METHODS Using a diffusion disc assay we determined the antimicrobial activities of 38%, 3.8%, 0.38%, and 0.038% of SDF against the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis OG1RF. Subsequently, we compared the levels of colonization of E. faecalis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at 1.5- and 3-week time intervals on dentin pretreated with 3.8% SDF, 6.25% NaOCl, 2% CHX or sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS). RESULTS The diffusion disc assay demonstrated that 38% and 3.8% of SDF inhibited the growth of E. faecalis. Moreover, the substantivity of 3.8% SDF (p < 0.01) was comparable to 2% CHX (p < 0.01) and it is significantly greater than 6.25% of NaOCl compared to the PBS treated samples after 1.5 and 3 weeks of incubation. CONCLUSIONS In this study, we demonstrate that SDF possesses antimicrobial properties against the opportunistic pathogen E. faecalis. Moreover, using a dentin model we show the substantivity of 3.8% SDF is significantly greater than 6.25% NaOCl, but is comparable to 2% CHX.
Adverse childhood experiences and traumatic brain injury among adolescents: findings from the 2016-2018 National Survey of Children's Health.

Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is a significant public health issue for youth. However, traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been almost entirely overlooked in the ACEs and health outcomes literature, which has largely focused on the significant mental and behavioral health impact of ACEs. The goal the current study is to examine the association between ACEs and TBI among a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States and the extent to which ADHD and conduct problems inform this association. To assess this relationship, we use a sample of 42,204 adolescents (ages 12–17 years) in the United States whose caregivers were surveyed during the three most recent cohorts (2016–2018) of the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). The results revealed a dose–response relationship between ACEs and TBI, even after accounting for an array of confounding variables. Findings also indicated that associations were of a greater magnitude among youth who are not sports-involved. Supplemental mediation analyses showed that ADHD and conduct problems attenuated associations between ACE exposure and TBI, but only in the absence of youth sports involvement. Given that both ACEs and TBI carry long-term consequences for health and well-being, the findings from this study draw attention to the need for early intervention and prevention programming (e.g. home visiting) that can reduce the prevalence of ACEs and a history of TBI among adolescents.
Prevalence and correlates of vaccine attitudes and behaviors in a cohort of low-income mothers.

Abstract The US is facing a rise in vaccine hesitancy, delay, and refusal, though little is known about these outcomes in socio-economically disadvantaged populations. This study examines the prevalence and correlates of vaccine attitudes and behaviors in a diverse cohort of low-income mothers receiving home visiting services. Survey data were collected from 813 recipients of evidence-based home visiting services in Wisconsin from 2013 to 2018. Analyses were performed to describe outcome measures of vaccine attitudes and self-reported completion, and multivariate regressions were used to test associations between vaccine-related outcomes and hypothesized correlates. Most women (94%) reported their children were up to date on vaccines; 14.3% reported having ever delayed vaccination. A small minority disagreed that vaccines are important (5.0%), effective (5.4%), and safe (6.2%), though a larger proportion responded ambivalently (10.9%–21.9%). Participants with greater trust in health care providers reported more positive overall vaccine attitudes (B = 0.24; 95% CI = 0.17, 0.31), a lower likelihood of vaccine delay (OR = 0.57; 95% CI = 0.46, 0.73), and a greater likelihood of being up to date on vaccines (OR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.30, 2.44). Women with greater trust in a home visitor also rated vaccines more positively (B = 0.09; 95% CI = 0.02, 0.15), and women who reported better mental health were more likely to report their children were up to date (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 1.02, 1.09). Compared to non-Hispanic whites, American Indians and non-Hispanic blacks had poorer vaccine-related outcomes. More research on vaccine attitudes and behaviors among higher-risk populations is needed to develop tailored strategies aimed at addressing vaccine hesitancy and underimmunization.
Heterozygosity of the Alpha 1-Antitrypsin Pi*Z Allele and Risk of Liver Disease.

The serpin family A member 1 (SERPINA1) Z allele is present in approximately one in 25 individuals of European ancestry. Z allele homozygosity (Pi*ZZ) is the most common cause of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency and is a proven risk factor for cirrhosis. We examined whether heterozygous Z allele (Pi*Z) carriers in United Kingdom (UK) Biobank, a population-based cohort, are at increased risk of liver disease. We replicated findings in Massachusetts General Brigham Biobank, a hospital-based cohort. We also examined variants associated with liver disease and assessed for gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. In UK Biobank, we identified 1,493 cases of cirrhosis, 12,603 Z allele heterozygotes, and 129 Z allele homozygotes among 312,671 unrelated white British participants. Heterozygous carriage of the Z allele was associated with cirrhosis compared to noncarriage (odds ratio [OR], 1.53; P = 1.1×10-04); homozygosity of the Z allele also increased the risk of cirrhosis (OR, 11.8; P = 1.8 × 10-09). The OR for cirrhosis of the Z allele was comparable to that of well-established genetic variants, including patatin-like phospholipase domain containing 3 (PNPLA3) I148M (OR, 1.48; P = 1.1 × 10-22) and transmembrane 6 superfamily member 2 (TM6SF2) E167K (OR, 1.34; P = 2.6 × 10-06). In heterozygotes compared to noncarriers, the Z allele was associated with higher alanine aminotransferase (ALT; P = = 4.6 × 10-46), aspartate aminotransferase (AST; P = 2.2 × 10-27), alkaline phosphatase (P = 3.3 × 10-43), gamma-glutamyltransferase (P = 1.2 × 10-05), and total bilirubin (P = 6.4 × 10-06); Z allele homozygotes had even greater elevations in liver biochemistries. Body mass index (BMI) amplified the association of the Z allele for ALT (P interaction = 0.021) and AST (P interaction = 0.0040), suggesting a gene-environment interaction. Finally, we demonstrated genetic interactions between variants in PNPLA3, TM6SF2, and hydroxysteroid 17-beta dehydrogenase 13 (HSD17B13); there was no evidence of epistasis between the Z allele and these variants. Conclusion:SERPINA1 Z allele heterozygosity is an important risk factor for liver disease; this risk is amplified by increasing BMI.
Public attitudes on peace with Israel in Jordanian politics

Twenty-five years after the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty hopes for a warm process of normalization and the development of a ‘New Middle East’ based on trade and trust died long ago. The peace tre...
The Development and Testing of a Perinatal Tobacco, Attitudes, and Behaviors Survey (PTABS).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Accurate assessment of tobacco use in pregnant smokers is key to effective nursing intervention. There is a lack of valid and reliable tools easily integrated into prenatal care. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and test a perinatal survey, guided by the Health Promotion Model (HPM). METHODS The survey was tested with 107 pregnant women via iPad. Urine cotinine assays and a process evaluation were conducted. RESULTS Reliability yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .873 for the ever-smoker sample and .835 for the total sample. Factors dovetailed with HPM constructs. CONCLUSIONS Perinatal Tobacco, Attitudes, and Behaviors Survey (PTABS) exhibits high reliability and validity and is easily utilized. Updates need to include questions on all nicotine products and to be streamlined. With accurate identification of nicotine users nurses can provide targeted interventions early in pregnancy.
Association of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status with COVID-19 30-day mortality at a Philadelphia medical center using a retrospective cohort study

Objective COVID-19 has disproportionately affected low-income communities and people of color. Previous studies demonstrated that race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) are not independently correlated with COVID-19 mortality. The purpose of our study is to determine the effect of race/ethnicity and SES on COVID-19 30-day mortality in a diverse, Philadelphian population. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study in a single center tertiary care hospital in Philadelphia, PA. The study includes adult patients hospitalized with polymerase-chain-reaction-confirmed COVID-19 between March 1st , 2020 and June 6th , 2020. The primary outcome was a composite of COVID-19 death or hospice discharge within 30 days of discharge. The secondary outcome was intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Results The study included 426 patients. 16.7% died, 3.3% were discharged to hospice, and 20.0% were admitted to the ICU. Using multivariable analysis, race/ethnicity was not associated with the primary nor secondary outcome. In Model 4, age greater than 75 (Odds Ratio [OR], 11.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.96 to 61.97) and renal disease (OR 2.78; 95% CI, 1.31 to 5.90) were associated with higher odds of the composite primary outcome. "Very-low-income area" (OR 0.29; 95% CI, 0.12 to 0.71) and BMI 30-35 (OR 0.24; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.69) were associated with lower odds of the primary outcome. Conclusions When controlling for demographics, SES, and comorbidities, race/ethnicity was not independently associated with the composite primary outcome. Very-low SES, as extrapolated from census-tract-level income data, were associated with lower odds of the composite primary outcome. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Recent Publications on Statistics, Language Testing and Quantitative Research Methods: II

Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing Lyle Bachman. Assessing Achievement in the Learner-Centred Curriculum Geoff Brindley. Testing for Language Teachers Arthur Hughes. Cambridge
Information Production, Endogenous Occupational Choices, and Delegated Portfolio Management

I analyze investors' decisions to be active or passive by introducing opportunity costs of market participation and endogenous occupational choices into a heterogeneous-agent noisy rational expectations equilibrium model. In equilibrium, agents with low information production costs and high initial wealth become retail investors; those with low information production costs but low initial wealth become money managers; and those with high information production costs delegate their portfolio decisions. The model not only explains the relative magnitude of institutional and individual investment in a general equilibrium setting, but also sheds new light on the relationship between investor composition and asset price properties.
Single-shot generation of femtosecond laser pulse sonogram using two-photon conductivity in a silicon CCD

Summary form only given. We report a single-shot approach for generating the sonogram of an ultrashort pulse using two-photon absorption in a standard CCD camera. In the experimental apparatus a laser pulse is introduced into a spectral decomposition setup consisting of a diffraction grating and a cylindrical lens telescope, imaging the surface of the grating onto the CCD array.
Synthesis of Exopolysaccharide by Bradyrhizobium japonicum during Growth on Hydroaromatic Substrates

The hydroaromatic acids shikimate and quinate, which may be available as carbon sources in the soil, supported production of only low levels of acidic exopolysaccharide by Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Exopolysaccharide production (micrograms per 109 cells) was 4.9 on quinate and 4.5 on shikimate; in comparison, it was 128 on adipate, 18 on l-arabinose, and 39 on d-glucose.
The electron microscopic examination of congenital keratoses of the oral mucous membranes: I. White sponge nevus☆

Abstract A review of the literature concerning the reported cases of white sponge nevus and a discussion of other congenital white lesions of the oral mucous membranes have been presented. Five cases of white sponge nevus were examined by means of the light microscope and the electron microscope. One of the patients was a Negro, the first reported as such in the literature. The tonofilaments were observed in four patterns: (1) loosely dispersed throughout the cytoplasm, (2) perinuclear in distribution, (3) at opposite poles of the cytoplasm from the nucleus, or (4) in a circular mass in the center of an anucleoid cell. The cells of the spinous and more superficial layers often showed crystallization of the residual nuclear material and a loss of the nuclear membrane. Membrane-bound lamellated structures were noted near the outer cell membranes of many of the cells. The attachment plaques (desmosomes) appeared to have a normal morphology in most instances, although a number of altered attachments in the superficial cells were noted.
Testing the Duo-factor-model of Return and Volume

Recent theoretical work by Lo and Wang (2000) shows that a multi-factor assetpricingmodel not only imposes factor restrictions on stock returns but on trading volume as well. We explicitly test their theoretical result using individual stock return and turnover data from NYSE and AMEX from 1962 to 1996. We introduce a recently developed consistent statistic by Bai and Ng (2001a) to determine the number of factors in a duo approximate multi factor model for return and turnover. While we find that the duo-factor model captures a great deal of common variation of trading volume, the data rejects a model restriction that excess return and turnover should have the same number of systematic factors. Using the duo-factor-model, we decompose excess return and turnover into systematic and idiosyncratic components. Our empirical work discovers a significant increase in the variation of idiosyncratic turnover through time, analogous to the discovery of a noticeable increase in firm level volatility by Campbell, Lettau, Malkiel and Xu (2001). We also find significant co-movement between volatility and turnover at the systematic levels. Our findings support the view that trading volume is notpurely random but driven by trading activities associated with macroeconomic and firm news.
‘But once they are organised, you can never stop them’: 1950s Black women in Montgomery and Johannesburg defy men and the state

PAM BROOKS looks at women's resistance in South Africa and Alabama, United States in the '50s. She writes that women's voices and experiences bring new insight into the nature of the struggles that took place
Expression of Growth Factors and Oncogenes in Normal and Tumor-derived Human Mammary Epithelial Cells

The expression of genes which may be involved in the regulation of human mammary epithelial cell growth [transforming growth factors α and β] and tumorigenesis [c- myc, erb B2, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Ha- ras, pS2 ] has been compared in similarly cultured normal cell strains and tumor cell lines. We have found that the normal breast cells produce high levels of EGFR mRNA, which are translated into nearly 105 low affinity epidermal growth factor-binding molecules/cell. In the estrogen receptor-negative lines examined, the EGFR gene was expressed at levels comparable to those in the normal cells. In contrast, EGFR and transforming growth factor α mRNAs were reduced in estrogen receptor-positive tumor lines compared to estrogen receptor-negative lines and normal cells. Steady state mRNA levels for transforming growth factor β, erb B2, c- myc , and Ha- ras in the normal cells were greater than or comparable to those in all of the breast tumor lines. Furthermore, in the absence of gene amplification, only one of the genes examined ( i.e., pS2 ) was overexpressed in a subset of the tumor cells compared to their normal counterparts. Several reports by other investigators have described overexpression of some of these genes in breast biopsies and in tumor lines in studies lacking normal controls. Thus, our results, in which the same genes were not overexpressed compared to normal cells unless amplified, underscore the importance of including appropriate normal controls in studies aimed at defining aberrant patterns of gene expression in tumor cells.
A survey of image registration techniques

Registration is a fundamental task in image processing used to match two or more pictures taken, for example, at different times, from different sensors, or from different viewpoints. Virtually all large systems which evaluate images require the registration of images, or a closely related operation, as an intermediate step. Specific examples of systems where image registration is a significant component include matching a target with a real-time image of a scene for target recognition, monitoring global land usage using satellite images, matching stereo images to recover shape for autonomous navigation, and aligning images from different medical modalities for diagnosis.Over the years, a broad range of techniques has been developed for various types of data and problems. These techniques have been independently studied for several different applications, resulting in a large body of research. This paper organizes this material by establishing the relationship between the variations in the images and the type of registration techniques which can most appropriately be applied. Three major types of variations are distinguished. The first type are the variations due to the differences in acquisition which cause the images to be misaligned. To register images, a spatial transformation is found which will remove these variations. The class of transformations which must be searched to find the optimal transformation is determined by knowledge about the variations of this type. The transformation class in turn influences the general technique that should be taken. The second type of variations are those which are also due to differences in acquisition, but cannot be modeled easily such as lighting and atmospheric conditions. This type usually effects intensity values, but they may also be spatial, such as perspective distortions. The third type of variations are differences in the images that are of interest such as object movements, growths, or other scene changes. Variations of the second and third type are not directly removed by registration, but they make registration more difficult since an exact match is no longer possible. In particular, it is critical that variations of the third type are not removed. Knowledge about the characteristics of each type of variation effect the choice of feature space, similarity measure, search space, and search strategy which will make up the final technique. All registration techniques can be viewed as different combinations of these choices. This framework is useful for understanding the merits and relationships between the wide variety of existing techniques and for assisting in the selection of the most suitable technique for a specific problem.
Conductivity and Isotope Effect in the Colossal Magnetoresistance

The diffusion of nearly localized electrons is considered in the presence of the spin-dependent and multiple scattering on the randomly oriented and/or distributed magnetic moments of scatterers. The spin diffusion coefficient in the case of the exchange interaction between the diffusive but nearly localized electrons is evaluated. It is shown that the electron localization leads to the vanishing of the spin diffusion and hence the ferromagnetic phase transition. The isotope effect in the Curie temperature in the case of the electron–phonon inelastic relaxation is obtained, as experimentally observed in the manganese oxides by Zhao and co-workers.11 The strong spin-polaron effect caused by the interaction of the diffusive electrons with the diffusive paramagnons significantly reduces conductivity near the Curie temperature. The temperature dependence of conductivity in the absence and presence of an external magnetic field is discussed as well.
Resonance Raman Intensity Analysis of Cresyl Violet Bound to SiO2 Colloidal Nanoparticles

Resonance Raman spectra and absolute cross sections have been measured for cresyl violet in aqueous solution and bound to the surface of SiO 2 colloidal nanoparticles. The absorption spectra of cresyl violet on SiO 2 havepreviously been interpreted to show formation of H-type dimers on the surface. The spectra of the monomers in solution are simulated to obtain the excited-state geometry change along each normal mode and the electronic spectral broadening parameters. The spectra of the dimers on SiO 2 are then simulated with a model that assumes transition dipole coupling between the vibronic transitions on the two monomers. The simulations require increases in both the electronic homogeneous line width and the inhomogeneous line width upon binding to the colloid. The general features of the resonance Raman spectra are reproduced fairly well, but significant differences in the relative intensities of certain Raman lines upon binding to the surface suggest specific vibrational or vibronic effects not considered in this simple model.
Superconducting properties of pion condensates. II

We extend previous work concerning the effect of an external magnetic field on pion condensation by including nucleons in the sigma model. We confirm that an incipient condensate can be removed by a weak field, while we argue that flux penetration for a well-developed condensate will occur in a type-II configuration.
Separation of young and mature thrombocytes by a novel immuno-selection method

Our earlier studies on the structural and functional properties of zebrafish thrombocytes have shown that they have many similarities to mammalian platelets. We have also shown that zebrafish have both young and mature thrombocytes as do mammalian platelets. In addition, we have distinguished young thrombocytes from mature thrombocytes microscopically using lipophilic DiI-C18, and have shown that young thrombocytes have higher GPIIb receptor levels. However, at present, there is no immunoselection method to separate young thrombocytes from mature thrombocytes in order to study differences among them, such as mRNA expression levels of thrombocyte specific genes. We developed a novel technique employing specific biotinylated anti-Cy3 antibody against the chromophore of DiI-C18 and using streptavidin magnetic beads to separate young thrombocytes from mature thrombocytes. Our technique separates and differentiates young and mature thrombocytes from whole blood. This method is specific and is effective with small amounts of blood.
Comment on "What Drives Bank Competition? Some International Evidence"

The question of bank competition is vitally important for a number of reasons. The essential role of bank credit and other financial services as an input in the production of most other goods and services places banks in a unique and influential position, such that any allocative inefficiency or other market distortions in banking are almost certain to be felt throughout the economy. Moreover, recent history has provided numerous instances where the textbook paradigm of atomistic competition has proven inadequate as a policy guide for efficient banking-either because there are simply too few banks to rely on sheer numbers as a guarantee of vigorous competition, as in Canada; or because of evidence that there can be such a thing as "too much competition" in banking, as suggested by several studies; or because of instances where nearly competitive pricing has been observed in markets containing only one or two banks; or because, conversely, substantially noncompetitive pricing has sometimes been deduced in banking products-such as credit cardswith thousands of suppliers. Thus, the study of bank competition remains an urgent field of research. Claessens and Laeven (2004, this issue of JMCB) make two key contributions here. First, they extend a proven empirical method to an unprecedentedly large and varied crosscountry sample. Second, they offer the logical and policy-relevant additional step of seeking to identify factors associated with variations in measured conduct. This step is needed to assess the empirical validity of the traditional structure-conductperformance paradigm in their sample and is especially important where that paradigm is found lacking as a predictor of bank conduct. Indeed, although the authors
Poster: Krowd: A Key-Value Store for Crowded Venues

Attendees of live events want to capture and share rich content using their mobile devices, during the events. However, the infrastructure at venues that host live events provide poor, low-bandwidth connectivity. Instead of relying on infrastructure provided by the venue, we propose to stand up a temporary "infrastructure" using the very devices that need it, to enable content-sharing with nearby devices. To this end, we developed Krowd, a novel system that provides a key-value store abstraction to applications that share content among local, nearby users. We evaluated Krowd using over 200 hours of real-world traces from sold-out NBA and NHL playoffs and show that it is 50% faster and consumes 50% less bandwidth than alternative systems. We believe that Krowd is the only decentralized and distributed system to provide a key-value store made for neighboring mobile devices and of neighboring mobile devices.
Social policy and science in the treatment of severe behavior disorders: Defining and securing a healthy relationship☆

Abstract There is currently an active debate in clinical and applied psychology about the proper extent to which aversive motivation can be used ethically to modify abnormal behavior in people with developmental and psychiatric disabilities. Some have argued for the total abolition of behavior therapy procedures based on the purposeful use of aversive motivation because of the risks (a) to the client, (b) to the society that allows such therapeutic approaches, and (c) to the users of such approaches. Such assertions of risk can be empirically verified and then used in a formal decision process designed to promote rational evaluation of the risks, costs, and benefits of feasible technological alternatives. Science-based approaches to therapeutic behavior change can be evaluated using formal decision aids like the one described and illustrated in this paper. The use of formal decision aids can move the debate toward effective and acceptable social and regulatory policies.
Technique for measurement of one-dimensional instantaneous ablation velocity

An oscillating mirror scanned a He-Ne laser beam along the length of a thin rod while the rod was ablated by an argon laser beam. The shadow of the scanning beam on an image plane provides a picture of the instantaneous ablation velocity of the rod. This configuration provides a unique method for investigating one-dimensional ablation.
Examination of Agonistic Behavior By Character Analysis Ii. Hermit Crabs

1. The communications systems of two species of hermit crab were analysed by character analysis. It was found that rough estimates of the amount of information transmitted by displays during an agonistic interaction could be obtained from just 100 fights. However, the values obtained for amount of information transferred tended to be distinctly higher than the values obtained from analysis of 500 fight samples. 2. Unexpected dips in the rate of information transfer seen in analyses of variable length fight samples were largely eliminated by analysing fights of defined length. 3. In all analyses, the amount of information transmitted from crab to crab was lower at the beginning of fights, rose to rather high levels (40-50% uncertainty reduction) in the middle of fights, and at the end of fights, the absolute values decreased while the relative levels of uncertainty reduction increased. 4. From analysis of fights categorized by whether the initiator or responding crab won the fight, it appears that the eventual winners of fights alter their behavior more relative to the behavior patterns shown by the eventual loser than vice versa. This was true for all phases of interactions.
Prediction of Very High Reynolds Number Compressible Skin Friction

Flat plate skin friction calculations over a range of Mach numbers from 0.4 to 3.5 at Reynolds numbers from 16 million to 492 million using a Navier Stokes method with advanced turbulence modeling are compared with incompressible skin friction coefficient correlations. The semi-empirical correlation theories of van Driest; Cope; Winkler and Cha; and Sommer and Short T' are used to transform the predicted skin friction coefficients of solutions using two algebraic Reynolds stress turbulence models in the Navier-Stokes method PAB3D. In general, the predicted skin friction coefficients scaled well with each reference temperature theory though, overall the theory by Sommer and Short appeared to best collapse the predicted coefficients. At the lower Reynolds number 3 to 30 million, both the Girimaji and Shih, Zhu and Lumley turbulence models predicted skin-friction coefficients within 2% of the semi-empirical correlation skin friction coefficients. At the higher Reynolds numbers of 100 to 500 million, the turbulence models by Shih, Zhu and Lumley and Girimaji predicted coefficients that were 6% less and 10% greater, respectively, than the semi-empirical coefficients.
Commercial drivers' initial attitudes toward an on-board monitoring system

Several studies have shown the effectiveness of on-board monitoring for improving commercial driver safety but little has been done to examine truck drivers' attitudes toward such systems. The purpose of the current study is to examine these drivers' initial attitudes toward an on-board monitoring system (OBMS) as influenced by driver characteristics and driving experiences. Commercial drivers' attitudes and demographics were collected via a questionnaire distributed after a brief introduction of an OBMS. The results of a cluster analysis revealed three subgroups of commercial drivers who had negative, moderately positive, and extremely positive attitudes toward OBMS. Those with extremely positive attitudes, named the Fanatics cluster indicated that they would highly trust the system and felt they would adjust their driving based on system feedback. The cluster with more negative attitudes (named Opponents) showed a higher proportion of non-married drivers than married drivers and reported that the system would be an invasion of privacy. This study provides some insights on commercial drivers' attitudes toward feedback from technology and can help designers and researchers understand differences in drivers' willingness to accept and use feedback systems. Language: en
Power plants and plankton

Abstract The use of coastal oceanic waters in the cooling systems of power plants leads to the destruction of large numbers of planktonic larvae of nearshore fish and invertebrates. As a first-order approach toward assessing the maximum probable impact of such larval mortality upon the adult populations, one can assume that recruitment to local populations is due to larvae from distant sources, which have a recruitment success independent of adult density; and that adult mortality is density-independent. These worst-possible-case assumptions lead to the interpretation that impact on adult populations could be adequately evaluated by measuring—or predicting—the power-plant imposed reductions in larval density in those near-shore waters from which recruitment occurs.
Fabrication of a microfluidic system with integrated electrochemical pump and valves

An integrated microfluidic system with a check valve and a micropump based on electrochemical actuation was designed and fabricated using UV-LIGA microfabrication technologies. The main components of the system include two electrochemical (ECM) actuators, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane, and multi levels of covers. The thickness of the membrane is 100 mm thick and the thickness of the PDMS structure is 1000 mm. Hydrogen gas bubbles were generated from Pt black electrodes with 1M of NaCl solution in the valve chamber. Experimental results proved that the system can be operated by controlling the electrical signals supplied to the ECM actuators.
You must be joking...: interview this

The goal of this column this time was to address major scientific issues and propose novel scientific methods for doing the same thing under different names. However, it turned out to be too complicated as it required mastery of the english alphabet. Then, I had an epiphany (greek word): Why propose something new, when you can complain about something that already exists? I think I am turning into an angry old man prematurely.
Characterization of a Lidless Form of the Molecular Chaperone DnaK DELETION OF THE LID INCREASES PEPTIDE ON- AND OFF-RATE CONSTANTS

The C-terminal, polypeptide binding domain of the 70-kDa molecular chaperone DnaK is composed of a unique lidlike subdomain that appears to hinder steric access to the peptide binding site. We have expressed, purified, and characterized a lidless form of DnaK to test the influence of the lid on the ATPase activity, on interdomain communication, and on the kinetics of peptide binding. The principal findings are that loss of the lid creates an activated form of DnaK which is not equivalent to ATP-bound DnaK. For example, at 25 degrees C the NR peptide (NRLLLTG) dissociates from the ADP and ATP states of DnaK with observed off-rate constants of 0.001 and 4.8 s(-1), respectively. In contrast, for DnaK that lacks most of the helical lid, residues 518-638, the NR peptide dissociates with observed off-rate constants of 0.1 and 188 s(-1). These results show that the loss of the lid does not interfere with interdomain communication, that the beta-sandwich peptide binding domain can exist in two discrete conformations, and that the lid functions to increase the lifetime of a DnaK.peptide complex. We discuss several mechanisms to explain how the lid affects the lifetime of a DnaK.peptide complex.
Homogeneous fluid flow through consolidated porous media

Abstract The permeabilities of clean and Silane-treated alundum plugs to liquids vary slightly with the capillary properties of the liquids. These effects are negligible for practical purposes. Solutions of surface-active agents in isooctane and water did not cause a significant change from the permeability values determined with the pure solvents. Studies of fluid distribution in blind-pore and intersecting-capillary systems indicate that incomplete liquid saturation probably is the cause of the small differences observed in permeability. These studies indicate that fluid distribution, and therefore fluid saturation, is affected by wettability. The saturation in turn affects the permeability, resulting in an apparent relationship between permeability and wettability. Such effects would not explain the differences in observed permeabilities of porous media to electrolyte solutions from those with water. However, the addition of KCl to water was found to have no effect on permeability values in the present investigation. Although extreme care was taken to obtain complete liquid saturation, this condition may not have been achieved. As a result of these considerations, it seems logical to attribute the differences in permeability to incomplete and variable saturation of the test samples.
Current Strategies in the management of Barrett's esophagus.

Barrett’s esophagus has become a very important topic in gastroenterology. Its management may vary from essentially a surveillance strategy to highly invasive esophagectomy. The variation in management strategies has occurred because of the current perceptions regarding cancer risks, which range from almost negligible to an incidence of 30% in high-grade dysplasia. Although it is clear that most patients with Barrett’s esophagus without dysplasia will not require therapy, the prospect of continued surveillance is unpleasant at best. Promising future tools and techniques for surveillance and treatment are described in this review.
Rupture of the biceps tendon after arthroscopic thermal capsulorrhaphy.

Abstract The use of thermal energy in the shoulder to tighten capsular tissues through collagen denaturation is well established. Although reported complication rates are low, the natural history of thermal manipulation to both target and collateral tissue is poorly defined. We report two cases of biceps tendon rupture after arthroscopic capsular shrinkage. Both patients were young, athletic men with normal long head biceps tendons at the time of surgery. Each patient experienced a complete tear of the long head with distal muscle retraction, resulting in a "Popeye" deformity, at 3 months postoperatively. One patient elected further surgery with biceps tenodesis. Both patients have returned to their athletic activities with minimal functional deficits.
Alternative modes of governance: organic as civic engagement

A major strategy in the creation of sustainable economies is the establishment of alternative market institutions, such as fair trade and local market systems. However, the dynamics of these alternative markets are poorly understood. What are the rules of behavior by which these markets function? How do these markets maintain their separate identity as “alternative”: apart from the conventional (“free”) market system? Building on Lyson’s notion of civic agriculture, we argue that alternative markets maintain themselves through civic engagement. However, we argue that the civically-engaged practices of alternative markets are poorly understood. We seek, therefore, to begin a conversation about the everyday forms of civic engagement in alternative practice and to do this we introduce a few useful conceptual tools. Building upon ideas in science studies about the collaboration of scientists (Hess, Alternative pathways in science and industry, 2007) we argue that civic markets have their own “market fields” and “modes of governance” (Bulkeley et al., Environment and Planning A 39:2733–2753, 2007), their own fields of social interaction in which rules of behavior become stabilized and determine how the market works. The creation of a social field also requires the demarcation of boundaries, referred to in the science studies literature as “boundary work” (Gieryn, Cultural boundaries of science: Credibility on the line, 1999). We apply the idea of boundary work to understand how alternative market actors maintain boundaries between alternative and conventional markets. Finally, studies of collaboration in science have often centered on the object created through these interactions, an object that is partially material and partially a product of knowledge, what (Rheinberger, Toward a history of epistemic things: Synthesizing proteins in the test tube, 1997) calls an “epistemic object.” We use this idea to understand that the creation of alternative objects of exchange, such as organic food, are epistemic objects in that they combine both particular materialities and particular ways of knowing. Using these concepts, we will carry out a close analysis of the mode of governance in the national organic market, looking specifically a recent governance crisis in organic agriculture known as the Harvey lawsuit.
Human rhinovirus capsid dynamics is controlled by canyon flexibility

Quantitative enzyme accessibility experiments using nano liquid chromatography electrospray mass spectrometry combined with limited proteolysis and isotope-labeling was used to examine the dynamic nature of the human rhinovirus (HRV) capsid in the presence of three antiviral compounds, a neutralizing Fab, and drug binding cavity mutations. Using these methods, it was found that the antivirals WIN 52084 and picovir (pleconaril) stabilized the capsid, while dansylaziridine caused destabilization. Site-directed mutations in the drug-binding cavity were found to stabilize the HRV14 capsid against proteolytic digestion in a manner similar to WIN 52084 and pleconaril. Antibodies that bind to the NIm-IA antigenic site and penetrate the canyon were also observed to protect the virion against proteolytic cleavage. These results demonstrate that quantifying the effects of antiviral ligands on protein "breathing" can be used to compare their mode of action and efficacy. In this case, it is apparent that hydrophobic antiviral agents, antibodies, or mutations in the canyon region block viral breathing. Therefore, these studies demonstrate that mobility in the canyon region is a major determinant in capsid breathing.