cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fitting into the Workgroup: Relationships Within the Team

The natural extension of leader–member and peer relationships is considering how they individually and collectively impact workgroup functioning. Leaders may not be aware of how their communication tendencies may impact the culture and output of their workgroup as a whole. This chapter reviews and summarizes scholarly literature at the intersection of leader, peer, and team relationships and functioning. Addressing potential best-case and worst-case scenarios, this chapter shows leaders and members how individual relationships can propel workgroups to greater success or on the other hand, tamper with their accomplishments. This chapter also leans into the potential downfalls of LMX theory—the potential for leaders to assemble a special inner circle of trusted employees who are demographically similar to themselves. Considering this, this chapter addresses some of the natural communication challenges that arise when attempting to communicate across differences and among a group and how to be successful in these potentially trying scenarios. Traditional face-to-face workgroups, virtual teams, self- and co-lead teams, and teams with an ambiguous leadership structure are also considered.
The relationship between sleep and physical activity: the moderating role of daily alcohol consumption.

Study objectives Studies have demonstrated a daily, bidirectional relationship between sleep and physical activity. However, little is known about how other health behaviors, such as alcohol consumption affect this relationship. This study examined how daily and average alcohol consumption affects the relationships between sleep and physical activity. Methods Participants included 70 men and women, ages 18-50 with sleep duration >6.5 hours. Participants wore an actigraph, physical activity monitor and recorded number of alcoholic drinks by daily food logs for 7 days. Results were analyzed using multi-level models to evaluate the 7-day average (i.e. between-person effects) and daily effects (i.e. within-person effects) simultaneously. Results Those with more average (7 day) minutes of vigorous physical activity had less wake after sleep onset (WASO). Furthermore, a higher number of alcoholic drinks was associated with longer sleep duration and higher WASO over 7 days. Days with a higher number of alcoholic drinks were associated with higher WASO and sleep fragmentation that night. Alcohol intake moderated the average (7 days) and daily relationships between sleep and physical activity such that high average (7 days) WASO was associated with shorter average total physical activity duration, but only for those with higher alcohol intake. In addition, longer physical activity duration during the day was associated with lower sleep fragmentation that night, but only for those with lower alcohol intake. Conclusions These data demonstrate that in a naturalistic setting, alcohol intake negatively impacts sleep and diminishes the benefits of physical activity on sleep.
Comparing long-term projected outcomes of adaptive silvicultural approaches aimed at climate change in red pine forests of northern Minnesota, USA

The Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) project was developed to test ecosystem-specific adaptation approaches. The first ASCC trial was installed on the Cutfoot Experimental Forest (CE...
Workers' Compensation Status in Association with a High NDI Score Negatively Impacts Post-Operative Dysphagia and Dysphonia Following Anterior Cervical Fusion.

Background Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a safe and effective procedure but has approach-related complications like postoperative dysphagia and dysphonia (PDD). Patient-reported outcome measures including the Hospital for Special Surgery Dysphagia and Dysphonia Inventory (HSS-DDI) have been used for the assessment of PDD. Various factors have been described that affect ACDF outcomes, and our aim was to investigate the effect of workers' compensation (WC) status. Methods We included patients who underwent ACDF from 2015 to 2018 stratified according to insurance status: WC/non-WC. PDDs were assessed using the HSS-DDI score. We conducted logistic regression analyses. Statistical significance was set at P Results We included 287 patients, 44 (15.33%) WC and 243 (84.67%) non-WC. A statistical comparison revealed a clinically relevant difference in the HSS-DDI total score and both subdomains (P = 0.015; dysphagia P = 0.021; dysphonia P = 0.002). Additional logistic regression analysis adjusting for preoperative Neck Disability Index scores resulted in no clinically relevant differences in the HSS-DDI total score and both subdomains (total score P = 0.420; dysphagia P = 0.531; dysphonia 0.315). Conclusions WC status was associated with a worse HSS-DDI score but could not be shown to be an independent risk factor for PDD. The preoperative NDI score was a strong predictor for PDD with a clinically relevant difference in the HSS DDI score (P
Dyed in Virtue: The Qur’ān and Plato’s Republic

Qur’ān 2:138, believers being “dyed by the dye of God,” echoes a figure of speech that was wide-spread in Greek from Plato to late antiquity, here tied to the Logos of Abraham, which is presented as a path to salvation for all monotheists.
Contractarianism without Contracts: A Response to Professor McChesney

Even the most casual inspection of the rules of corporation law reveals that these rules take three forms-enabling, suppletory, and mandatory. Enabling rules give legal effect to private rules that corporate actors adopt in a specified manner. Suppletory (or default) rules govern defined issues unless corporate actors adopt other rules in a specified manner. Mandatory rules govern defined issues in a manner that cannot be varied by corporate actors. In an article entitled The Structure of Corporation Law, which appeared in a recent symposium issue of the Columbia Law Review,' I addressed the issue, what accounts for the partly enabling, partly suppletory, and partly mandatory structure of corporation law? To this end, I distinguished between various kinds of corporation-law rules according to not only their form, but also their subject matter. Structural rules govern the allocation of decisionmaking power and control within the corporation, and the flow of corporate information. Distributional rules govern the distribution of assets (including earnings) to shareholders. Fiduciary rules govern the duties of managers and controlling shareholders. By the use of economic principles, I showed that in the case of closely held corporations, structural and distributional rules should be and largely are enabling or suppletory, while fiduciary rules should be and largely are mandatory.2 In contrast, in corporations that are publicly held or are about to go public, mandatory legal rules should and largely do govern both those core fiduciary and those core structural areas in which the interests of shareholders and top managers may materially diverge.3 Professor Fred McChesney was asked to comment on my symposium article. In fact, however, much of Professor McChesney's comment was addressed not to my symposium article, but to another article that I wrote six years ago,4 to a book that I wrote fourteen years ago,5 and even to my preliminary drafts. More important, throughout his comment Professor McChesney seriously misstated the positions taken in both my symposium article and my earlier work.
Does Duality Theory Hold in Practice? A Monte Carlo Analysis for U.S. Agriculture

Abstract The Neoclassical theory of production establishes a dual relationship between the profit value function of a competitive firm and its underlying production technology. This relationship, usually referred to as the duality theory, has been widely used in empirical work to estimate production parameters without the requirement of explicitly specifying the technology. We analyze the ability of this approach to recover the underlying production parameters and its effects on estimated elasticities and scale economies measurements, when data available for estimation features typical realistic problems. We design alternative scenarios and compute the data generating process by Monte Carlo simulations, so as to know the true technology parameters as well as to calibrate the dataset to yield realistic magnitudes of noise. This noise introduced in the estimation by construction prevents duality theory from holding exactly. Hence, the true production parameters may not be recovered with enough precision, and the estimated elasticities or scale economies measurements may be more inaccurate than expected. We compare the estimated production parameters with the true (and known) parameters by means of the identities between the Hessians of the production and profit functions. Keywords: duality theory, firm’s heterogeneity, measurement error, data aggregation, omitted variables, endogeneity, uncertainty, Monte Carlo simulations.
A Model of the U.S. Current Account

This paper presents an econometric model of U.S. current account transactions. The model is used to analyze the factors behind the deterioration in the U.S. external position during the 1980s and to examine the sensitivity of the U.S. current account balance to changes in factors which are its major determinants. The results suggest that the appreciation of the U.S. dollar and relatively faster economic growth in the United States account for most of the rise in the U.S. external deficit. The results also indicate that the depreciation of the dollar since March 1985 has contributed to a substantial improvement in the U.S. current account balance relative to what it otherwise might have been.
SENSOR DATA PROCESSING FOR TRACKING UNDERWATER THREATS USING TERASCALE OPTICAL CORE DEVICES

A critical aspect of littoral surveillance (including port protection) involves the localization and tracking of underwater threats such as manned or unmanned autonomous underwater vehicles. In this article, we present a methodology for locating underwater threat sources from uncertain sensor network data, and illustrate the threat tracking aspects using active sonars in a matched filter framework. The novelty of the latter paradigm lies in its implementation on a tera-scale optical core processor, EnLight™, recently introduced by Lenslet Laboratories. This processor is optimized for array operations, which it performs in a fixed point arithmetic architecture at tera-scale throughput. Using the EnLight™ 64α prototype processor, our results (i) illustrate the ability to reach a robust tracking accuracy, and (ii) demonstrate that a considerable speed-up (a factor of over 13,000) can be achieved when compared to an Intel Xeon™ processor in the computation of sets of 80K-sample complex Fourier transforms that are associated with our matched filter techniques.
Peripheral and Cardiac Factors in Experimental Septic Shock

The insidious and sometimes precipitous development of septic shock in man involves mechanisms not clearly understood. Cardiovascular changes have been reported to occur within seconds following an intravenous injection of endotoxin in dogs £5,7,19,22), and at variable times after injection of endotoxin in monkeys (8,10,13) or live E. coli organisms in the canine and primate species (3,11,14,15). Although the animal shock model has been studied extensively in recent years, the precise mechanisms involved in the early development of shock are not clearly understood. Recent emphasis has been focused on the causes of inadequate tissue perfusion in this form of shock. Of particular importance have been studies in which cardiac output decreased significantly in the early phase of shock. Several explanations have been proposed to account for the early decrease in flow and these will be the subject of this presentation.
Neuroethology of Melibe leonina Swimming Behavior

SYNOPSIS. The nudibranch Melibe leonina swims by rhythmically flexing its body from side to side at a frequency of 1 cycle every 2‐5 sec. Melibe swim spontaneously, when they are dislodged from the substrate, or when they come in contact with predatory seastars, such as Pycnopodia helianthoides. Intracellular recordings obtained from semi-intact swimming Melibe reveal a population of ;15 swim motoneurons (SMNs) in each pedal ganglion. In general, SMNs in one pedal ganglion fire out-of-phase with SMNs in the opposite pedal ganglion, resulting in rhythmic side-to-side bending movements. In isolated brains, recordings from SMNs yield similar results, indicating the existence of a swim central pattern generator (CPG). There is no evidence for synaptic interactions between SMNs and either inhibiting or exciting SMNs has no impact on the swim pattern. The SMNs are driven by a CPG consisting of 4 interneurons; 2 in the cerebropleural ganglia and 1 in each pedal ganglion. Appropriate bursting activity in the swim interneurons is necessary for swimming to occur. Either hyperpolarization or depolarization of any of the 4 CPG interneurons disrupts the normal swim pattern. Swimming behavior, and the fictive swim motor program expressed by the isolated brain, are inhibited by light and nitric oxide donors. NADPH-diaphorase staining and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) immunocytochemistry of Melibe brains suggests the source of nitric oxide might be a pair of bilaterally symmetrical cells located in the cerebropleural ganglia.
Enterprise data architecture principles for High-Level Multi-Int fusion: A pragmatic guide for implementing a heterogeneous data exploitation framework

Databases have been an integral component of Data Fusion from the outset when the JDL model was introduced. As advances in High-Level fusion using Multi-Int data have been made, the original concept of databases as a static repository of Level 0/1 content has evolved to support heterogeneous data, and as a necessary enabler of High-Level fusion processes. Relatively recent database technologies now support specialized storage for complex content such as multi-media, geospatial, and semantic data types. Additionally, database functionality has been extended from what was once almost exclusively storage and retrieval, to include integrated forensic and predictive algorithms, as well as decision support frameworks such as the data cube. These data mining capabilities provide a rich tool-set from which to tailor a fusion application. However, due to their inherent trade-off space, they present a significant design and integration challenge when implementing an enterprise architecture, which has to provide a comprehensive and cohesive framework across the entire fusion workflow, and which has to meet the needs of various Communities-of-Interest. This paper expounds on the role of data architecture as a key discipline to help analyze and synthesize an enterprise fusion system-of-systems, and presents selected principles to maximize heterogeneous data exploitation.
Adenovirus capsid-display of the retro-oriented human complement inhibitor DAF reduces Ad vector-triggered immune responses in vitro and in vivo.

Adenovirus (Ad) vectors are widely used in human clinical trials. However, at higher dosages, Ad vector–triggered innate toxicities remain a major obstacle to many applications. Ad interactions with the complement system significantly contribute to innate immune responses in several models of Ad-mediated gene transfer. We constructed a novel class of Ad vectors, genetically engineered to “capsid-display” native and retro-oriented versions of the human complement inhibitor decay-accelerating factor (DAF), as a fusion protein from the C-terminus of the Ad capsid protein IX. In contrast to conventional Ad vectors, DAF-displaying Ads dramatically minimized complement activation in vitro and complement-dependent immune responses in vivo. DAF-displaying Ads did not trigger thrombocytopenia, minimized endothelial cell activation, and had diminished inductions of proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine responses. The retro-oriented display of DAF facilitated the greatest improvements in vivo, with diminished activation of innate immune cells, such as dendritic and natural killer cells. In conclusion, Ad vectors can capsid-display proteins in a manner that not only retains the functionality of the displayed proteins but also potentially can be harnessed to improve the efficacy of this important gene transfer platform for numerous gene transfer applications.
Transient neurologic disturbances induced by high-dose methotrexate treatment

Temporary neurologic abnormalities were detected in 9 of 60 patients undergoing treatment with high-dose methotrexate and citrovorum factor rescue (MTX-CF) for osteosarcoma. The incidence of abnormalities and abnormalities themselves were more severe than previously reported. This was attributed to an increased dose and more frequent administration of MTX-CF. In view of the transient nature of the abnormalities, a biochemical cause is implicated, and the mechanisms by which it may occur are discussed.
The centrality of belief and reflection in Knobe-effect cases: a unified account of the data

Recent work in experimental philosophy has shown that people are more likely to attribute intentionality, knowledge, and other psychological properties to someone who causes a bad side effect than to someone who causes a good one. We argue that all of these asymmetries can be explained in terms of a single underlying asymmetry involving belief attribution because the belief that one's action would result in a certain side effect is a necessary component of each of the psychological attitudes in question. We argue further that this belief-attribution asymmetry is rational because it mirrors a belief-formation asymmetry, and that the belief-formation asymmetry is also rational because it is more useful to form some beliefs than others.
Converging Pedagogies in African Art Education Colonial Legacies and Post-independence Aspirations

Traditional or modern? Art or artisanry? Craft or contemporary art? The same African artwork can move in and out of the apparently mutually exclusive binary taxonomies of visual culture over the co...
Sex differences in predictors of outcome in selected physical therapy interventions for acute low back pain.

Study Design Secondary analysis of pooled data from 3 randomized trials. Objective This study investigated sex differences in response to physical therapy intervention for acute low back pain. Methods and Measures Subjects (n = 165) were participants in 3 randomized trials of physical therapy interventions from outpatient physical therapy clinics in the general and military communities. Subjects were randomly assigned spinal manipulation with range-of-motion exercise, lumbar stabilization exercise, or directional-preference exercise. Outcomes were measured at 4 weeks through self-report of pain intensity and pain-related disability. Sex differences were investigated with independent t tests (baseline data), 2×3 analysis of variance (4-week reductions in pain and pain-related disability), and regression models (predictors of outcome). Results Men and women had similar reductions of pain intensity (raw mean difference, 0.5; 95% CI, −1.4 to 0.4) and pain-related disability (raw mean difference, 5.3; 95% CI, ...
Multiplexing-diversity balanced cooperative wireless cellular networks based on Alamouti space time code for multimedia transmission

In this paper, an Alamouti space time based cooperative wireless cellular network for multimedia transmission is proposed. According to various requirements of text, voice, image, video or medical signal transmissions, this multiplexing-diversity balanced structure is provided for such comprehensive multimedia transmission in wireless cellular networks. Simulation results of this Alamouti based cooperative network have been compared with Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) method. Simulation results show the BER performance of proposed scheme outperforms several other spatial modulation methods.
Diffusion of a fluid through an anisotropic thick spherical shell

The problem of radial diffusion of a fluid through a transversely isotropic non-linearly elastic thick spherical shell is studied. The anisotropic shell is also pre-stretched radially. The non-linear equations governing the diffusion through the shell are solved numerically. The effects of the anisotropy of the material and the pre-stretching on the process of diffusion are studied.
Continuity and Change in European Governments

We cannot yet understand the full impact of the war upon the governmental systems of Europe."Spot news" is likely to be misleading. Serious and systematic study by political scientists has had no opportunity, as yet, to fathom and weigh the changes that are in process or to assess major trends either internally or internationally. Only in France, among leading European states whose political systems were greatly disrupted by the war, has a "new"' constitutional document emerged from momentary public opinion expressed through political parties which have maneuvered in terms of a multiform crisis. Passed by the Constituent Assembly by a vote of 309 to 249, the project was almost forthwith disapproved by French voters, on May 5, 1946, by a majority of more than 1,000,000 popular votes.1 Across our picture of internal affairs in Russia has fallen Mr. Churchill's "iron curtain." Or, perhaps, it would be more exact to say that the curtain has, been lowered another notch or two, and that, while Mr. Churchill spoke of Russian extra-curricular activities, we, of the political science profession are interested in what the war has produced, internally, in Russian government itself. The interchange of factual information between the U. S. S. R. and the U. S. A. can scarcely be regarded as a matter of completely free two-way communication. European statesmen, the very actors on the current stage, are probably somewhat uncertain as to outcome of the play. Such programs of political parties as may have been formulated for the future in the different countries will encounter those of other political parties, election results,
Prediction of Boston Naming Test performance from vocabulary scores: preliminary guidelines for interpretation.

Patients with limited education or underdeveloped vocabulary skills may perform below the normal range on the Boston Naming Test when compared to the original published norms, even in the absence of brain damage. To reduce the frequency of false positive dysnomic classifications of patients with limited vocabulary skills, we developed a score adjustment to account for the significant shared variance between scores on this test and the WAIS-R Vocabulary subtest. Vocabulary significantly predicted performance on the Boston Naming Test (r = .65, p < .0001) in a sample of 62 outpatients who had no objective evidence of brain damage. Linear regression was used to derive expected performance on the Boston Naming Test from Vocabulary scaled scores. Relative to the original published norms, scores based on the Vocabulary subtest cut-offs produced fewer false positives and more accurately classified group membership for patients with and without objectively verified brain damage. These performance predictions are offered as tentative guidelines to assist clinicians in evaluating the presence of naming deficits by controlling for the variance associated with knowledge of vocabulary.
Preliminary observations with a technique for measuring current spread in the rat brain.

Abstract Intracranial spread of current from monopolar and bipolar electrode configurations was evaluated by using a motor effect of VII nerve stimulation. A tripolar electrode was lowered through the medulla toward the nerve in 1 mm steps; the currents necessary to produce threshold levels of sustained vibrissae vibration with monopolar and bipolar combinations of tips were determined at each step. Bipolar stimulation had a steep gradient and its effects were largely confined to a region within 2 mm of the minimum threshold point. Monopolar stimulation had a broader gradient and spread further. This technique appears promising for quantitative evaluation of ICS characteristics.
Investment Criteria, Productivity, and Economic Development

I. A suggested criterion for investment allocation, 343. — II. The case for high labor productivity in underdeveloped areas, 353; the level of labor productivity in underdeveloped areas, 353; labor productivity and capital allocation, 355; population growth and development, 363; some obstacles to high labor productivity in backward areas, 367. — III. Conclusion, 369.
Relative Proton Affinities from Kinetic Energy Release Distributions for Dissociation of Proton-Bound Dimers

Kinetic energy release distributions (KERDs) upon dissociation of proton-bound dimers are utilized along with finite heat bath theory analysis to obtain relative proton affinities of monomeric species composing the dimer. The proposed approach allows accurate measurement of relative proton affinities based on KERD measurements for the compound with unknown thermochemical properties vs a single reference base. It also allows distinguishing the cases when dissociation of proton-bound dimers is associated with a reverse activation barrier, for which both our approach and the kinetic method become inapplicable. Results are reported for the n-butanol−n-propanol dimer, for which there is no significant difference in entropy effects for two reactions, and for the pyrrolidine−1,2-ethylenediamine dimer, which is characterized by a significant difference in entropy effects for the two competing reactions. Relative protonation affinities of −1.0 ± 0.3 kcal/mol for the n-butanol−n-propanol pair and 0.27 ± 0.10 kcal/m...
What is the proper statistical model for laser speckle flowmetry

The ultimate objective of laser speckle flowmetry (and a host of specific implementations such as Laser Speckle Contrast Analysis-LASCA or LSCA, Laser Speckle Spatial Contrast Analysis-LSSCA, Laser Speckle Temporal Contrast Analysis-LSTCA, etc.) is to infer flow velocity from the observed speckle contrast. A proper inversion of this association depends critically on the correct model for the statistical relationship between motion of the scatterers and the resulting spatial and temporal speckle contrast. Many researchers use the Lorentzian model for such a relationship. In fact, the Lorentzian is a homogeneous line profile appropriate only for Brownian motion. In such a case, the dynamics of a single particle are representative of the ensemble. The other extreme is an inhomogeneous (Gaussian) profile which corresponds to a process in which the dynamics are particular to the individual scatterers. The proper model for complex motion such as blood flow is undoubtedly intermediate between these two extremes. One such model for the net effect of these two stochastically independent processes is a Voigt profile. In this paper we explore the quantitative relationship between the statistics of speckle contrast and ordered flow. The study addresses the effects of speckle size relative to that of the pixel, temporal integration time relative to the decorrelation times associated with ordered and un-ordered motion, and the spatio-temporal processing schemes used to quantify speckle contrast.
Synthesis of novel α-fluoroacrylates and related polymers for immersion lithography

Immersion lithography is being actively developed toward mass production for 55nm node devices and beyond. Advances are being made toward large depths of focus and higher resolution, but the underlying problem of machine and material cost increases remains. Our work over the past few years has shown that the main-chain fluorinated base resins realized by the co-polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) and norbornene derivatives offer high dissolution rates and moderate surface properties. However, it is difficult to synthesis these materials and their high cost is disadvantageous. Recently, we switched our attention to a-fluoroacrylate and have synthesized various monomers and polymers for immersion lithography. a-fluoroacrylate has a polymerization rate faster than acrylate and methacrylate, and its polymers are superior to theirs. In this paper, we will report these synthesis methods and immersion specific properties such as the dissolution rate in standard alkaline solution and water contact angle. Furthermore, we consider with relationship between dissolution rate and polymer structure by infrared method.
COMBINATORIAL SEARCH ALGORITHMS WITH META-CONTROL: MODELING AND IMPLEMENTATIONS

In this paper, we model search algorithms with meta-control, allowing resource constraints, approximation, and parallel processing to be incorporated easily in the search process. The basic building block of the model is a hierarchical search process (HSP) consisting of context-free and context-sensitive grammars classified according to problem-independent and problem-dependent parts. The context-sensitive components are used mainly for evaluating decision parameters and in ordering production rules in the context-free grammar. The execution of the grammars for given initial conditions may invoke other HSPs already defined in the system. We describe ISE (acronym for Integrated Search Environment), a tool that implements hierarchical searches with meta-control. By separating the problem-dependent and problem-independent components in ISE, new search methods based on a combination of existing methods can be developed easily by coding a single master control program. Further, new applications solved by searches can be developed by coding the problem-dependent parts and reusing the problem-independent parts already developed. We describe the organization of ISE and present experiments carried out on the system.
Identification of peptides within a known protein sequence using COMSEQ analysis of data containing multiple sequences

Abstract Modern methods of automated protein sequence analysis can provide high-quality data with which unambiguous amino-acid sequences can be determined, but analyses are more difficult when the sample is not pure. COMSEQ and auxillary programs were written to facilitate reconciliation of multiple amino-acid sequences potentially contained in noisy data with the known amino-acid sequence of the parent protein. The COMSEQ program prints a matrix in which the first vertical column represents the known amino-acid sequence of a selected protein. Each row of the matrix contains the sequencer yield corresponding to the amino acid in the first column, with each column corresponding to the sequencing reaction cycle. A diagonal which contains net increases of amino acids for each amino acid in the known sequence identifies a peptide potentially contained within the data. The number of matches for each diagonal over the entire known sequence are tabulated and presented as an aid to locating comparisons of greatest interest. The RNDSEQ program conducts multiple analyses using randomized versions of the known amino-acid sequence and tabulates the cumulative frequencies of potential sequence matches irrespective of the true known sequence. TRANSEQ is a utility program that translates edited sequence data from common databases into files that can be used by COMSEQ and RNDSEQ. The programs have been used successfully to identify two co-sequenced peptides from bovine serum albumin, an albumin peptide sequenced in the presence of hemoglobin,and to identify two sequences of rat α-2u-globulin that differ in their amino termini.
4-Methylumbelliferyl glycosides of N-acetyl 4-thiochito-oligosaccharides as fluorogenic substrates for chitodextrinase from Vibrio furnissii

The degradation of chitin involves a diverse array of enzymes, some with overlapping substrate specificities. In order to distinguish between different types of enzymes, specific substrates are needed. Toward this end, two new fluorogenic substrates containing thio-glycosidic linkages, 4-methylumbelliferyl N,N'-diacetyl-4-thio-beta-chitobioside (Mu-TCB) and N,N',N"-triacetyl-4,4'-dithio-beta-chitotrioside (Mu-TCT) are described. The substitution of the glycosidic oxygens (except the one that links oligosaccharide with the fluorogenic aglycon) with a sulfur atom resulted in resistance of these compounds to N-acetyl-beta-hexosaminidases while they were specific substrates for the newly discovered chitodextrinase from Vibrio furnissii (Keyhani,N.O. and Roseman,S. (1996) J. Biol. Chem., 271, 33414-33424) and some bacterial chitinases. The enzyme kinetics of these 4-S-linked substrates, Mu-TCB and Mu-TCT, as well as the O-linked 4-methylumbelliferyl N,N'-diacetyl-beta-chitobioside (Mu-CB) and N,N',N"-triacetyl-beta-chitotrioside (Mu-CT) with the chitodextrinase were studied and compared. The usefulness of the substrates for screening for chitodextrinase and/or chitinase activity was demonstrated.
From video to photo albums: digital publishing workflow for automatic album creation

The revolution in consumer electronics for capturing video has been followed by an explosion of video content. However, meaningful consumption models of such rich media for nonprofessional users are still emerging. In contrast to those of video cameras, the consumption models for output of still cameras have been long established and are considerably simpler. The output of a still camera is an image of sufficiently high quality and high resolution for a good quality production on paper. Due to ease of use, mobility, high quality and simplicity paper photographs are still incomparable in terms of overall human experience. On the other hand, video content by itself is not as easy to use. Consumption of video content requires computers and/or video display devices and so cannot be instantaneously displayed or shared. Rendition on paper is much more complex for video content compared to still camera images. In contrast with the simplicity of usage of still cameras, video camera output has to be edited on computer, key frames with good visual quality have to be manually extracted, digitally edited and prepared for printing before getting usable good quality photographs. Due to complexity of the video content, users often prefer to take still pictures instead of recording video clips. In this paper we describe an approach to construct an end-to-end digital publishing workflow system that automatically composes visually appealing photo albums with high quality photographic images from video content input.
Israel's Policy of Targeted Killing

Since the beginning of the second intifada in the fall of 2000, Israel has pursued a policy in which alleged Palestinian terrorists have been hunted down and killed by government order. The policy is not one of assassination and is consistent with international law because Israel is engaged in armed conflict with terrorists, those targeted are usually killed by conventional military means, not through deception, and the targets of the attacks are not civilians but combatants or are part of a military chain of command. Targeted killing has also been affirmed by Israel's High Court.Although targeted killing has been pursued by Israel throughout its history, the scale of the present effort and the use of sophisticated military assets such as helicopter gunships and jet fighters set it apart from earlier practices. The effectiveness of the policy is called into doubt because it has not prevented–and may have contributed to–record numbers of Israeli civilians being killed. The policy has also resulted in informers being revealed, intelligence resources diverted, potential negotiating partners eliminated. It has also produced murderous retaliation and international condemnation of Israel. Benefits of the policy include impeding the effectiveness of terrorist operations, keeping terrorists on the run, and deterring some attacks. In addition, it affords the Israeli public a sense of revenge and retribution.Because it targets the actual perpetrators of terrorism, targeted killing provides a proportionate and discriminate response to the threat Israel faces. Improving the policy will require better civilian oversight, greater care to eliminate harm to innocent bystanders, and refraining from killing political leaders. Despite its many shortcomings, Israel is justified in pursuing this policy so long as it faces a terrorist threat that the Palestinian Authority will not or cannot control.
Longitudinal study of insulin resistance and sex hormones over the menstrual cycle: The biocycle study

Context: Conflicting findings have been reported regarding the effect of menstrual cycle phase and sex hormones on insulin sensitivity. Objective: The aim was to determine the pattern of insulin resistance over the menstrual cycle and whether variations in sex hormones explain these patterns. Design: The BioCycle study is a longitudinal study that measured hormones at different phases of the menstrual cycle. Participants had up to eight visits per cycle; each visit was timed using fertility monitors to capture sensitive windows of hormonal changes. Setting: The study was conducted in the general community of the University at Buffalo (Buffalo, NY). Participants: A total of 257 healthy, premenopausal women (age, 27 ± 8 yr; body mass index, 24 ± 4 kg/m2) participated in the study. Main Outcome Measures: We measured fasting insulin, glucose, and insulin resistance by the homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Results: Significant changes in HOMA-IR were observed over the menstrual cycle; from a midfollicular phase level of 1.35, levels rose to 1.59 during the early luteal phase and decreased to 1.55 in the late-luteal phase. HOMA-IR levels primarily reflected changes in insulin and not glucose. After adjustment for age, race, cycle, and other sex hormones, HOMA-IR was positively associated with estradiol (β = 0.082; P < 0.001) and progesterone (β = 0.025; P < 0.001), and inversely associated with FSH (adjusted β = −0.040; P < 0.001) and SHBG (β = −0.085; P < 0.001). LH was not associated with HOMA-IR. Further adjustment for BMI weakened the association with SHBG (β = −0.057; P = 0.06) but did not affect other associations. Conclusion: Insulin exhibited minor menstrual cycle variability. Estradiol and progesterone were positively associated with insulin resistance and should be considered in studies of insulin resistance among premenopausal women.
Origin of ascending auditory projections to the nucleus mesencephalicus lateralis pars dorsalis in the chicken

Abstract Ascending auditory projections to the nucleus mesencephalicus lateralis pars dorsalis (MLd) were studied in white Leghorn chickens by means of unilateral injections of horseradish peroxidase into the MLd and by injections of tritiated leucine into nucleus angularis or the combined nucleus magnocellularis and nucleus laminaris. The experiments showed that nucleus angularis sends an extensive projection to the contralateral MLd and a smaller projection to the rostral pole of the ipsilateral MLd; the lagenar region contributes to these bilateral connections. Nucleus angularis also projects bilaterally to the superior olive and nucleus ventralis lemnisci lateralis and to the contralateral nucleus lemnisci lateralis pars ventralis and dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus. Projections from nucleus laminaris were demonstrated to the ipsilateral superior olive, to the contralateral lemniscal nuclei and a small medial region in MLd bilaterally; the contralateral projection is much denser than the ipsilateral one. Other nuclei having ascending connections with MLd include the contralateral superior olive, the ipsilateral nucleus lemnisci lateralis pars ventralis, the contralateral nucleus ventralis lemnisci lateralis and the contralateral MLd. The ipsilateral superior olive and nucleus ventralis lemnisci lateralis also project to MLd but much more sparsely than in their contralateral projection. Although several of these findings correspond with auditory connections previously shown in the pigeon brainstem, they differ fundamentally in that we find both nucleus angularis and nucleus laminaris projecting to different areas of the MLd on both sides of the brain. In particular, our observation that the cochlear nucleus has bilateral connections with MLd demonstrates an important avian similarity with the brainstem auditory pathways of other terrestrial vertebrates.
The Rpe65 rd12 allele exerts a semidominant negative effect on vision in mice.

Purpose The rd12 mouse was reported as a recessively inherited Rpe65 mutation. We asked if the rd12 mutation resides in Rpe65 and how the mutation manifests itself. Methods A complementation test was performed by mating Rpe65(KO) (KO/KO) and rd12 mice together to determine if the rd12 mutation is in the Rpe65 gene. Visual function of wild-type (+/+), KO/+, rd12/+, KO/KO, rd12/rd12, and KO/rd12 mice was measured by optokinetic tracking (OKT) and ERG. Morphology was assessed by retinal cross section. qRT-PCR quantified Rpe65 mRNA levels. Immunoblotting measured the size and level of RPE65 protein. Rpe65 mRNA localization was visualized with RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Fractions of Rpe65 mRNA-bound proteins were separated by linear sucrose gradient fractionation. Results The KO and rd12 alleles did not complement. The rd12 allele induced a negative semidominant effect on visual function; OKT responses became undetectable 120 days earlier in rd12/rd12 mice compared with KO/KO mice. rd12/+ mice lost approximately 21% visual acuity by P210. rd12/rd12 mice had fewer cone photoreceptor nuclei than KO/KO mice at P60. rd12/rd12 mice expressed 71% +/+ levels of Rpe65 mRNA, but protein was undetectable. Mutant mRNA was appropriately spliced, exported to the cytoplasm, trafficked, and contained no other coding mutation aside from the known nonsense mutation. Mutant mRNA was enriched on ribosome-free messenger ribonucleoproteins (mRNPs), whereas wild-type mRNA was enriched on actively translating polyribosomes. Conclusions The rd12 lesion is in Rpe65. The rd12 mutant phenotype inherits in a semidominant manner. The effects of the mutant mRNA on visual function may result from inefficient binding to ribosomes for translation.
Doppler-free mid-infrared spectroscopy and direct frequency measurement of a single barium ion transition using a frequency stable ammonia laser

The 24.0 THz dipole forbidden, 5d 2 D 3/2 - 5d 2 D 5/2 fine structure transition in a single, trapped, and laser cooled 138 Ba + atom was probed with a tunable sideband from an optically pumped 15 NH 3 laser. Narrow resonances were observed which showed each Zeeman component to be free of first order and time dilation Doppler effects. Weak motional sidebands were observed adjacent to the central carrier yielding an estimated ion motional temperature below 15 mK. The ammonia laser was stabilized to its sP(8,6) saturated absorption dip, and measurements of the laser output frequency were made with the NRC frequency chain phase-locked to a primary Cs standard. Scanning of the Ba + D-D resonance with an electro-optically produced sideband of NH 3 laser radiation gave a direct measurement of the single ion center frequency. The preliminary series of measurements yielded 24 012 048 309 +/- 17 kHz for the 138 Ba + D-D transition center frequency.
Family-centered rounds in theory and practice: an ethnographic case study.

Abstract Background Family-centered rounds (FCR) seek to incorporate principles of family-centered care—including clear and open information sharing, respect, participation and collaboration—into inpatient settings. Although potential models designed to translate these principles into everyday clinical practice have been reported, few studies explore how FCR practices align with principles of family-centered care. Methods We conducted an ethnographic study, observing over 200 hours of FCR on a general pediatrics inpatient service from January to August 2010 (185 distinct rounding events). To complement observation, we conducted interviews with 6 family members. Qualitative analysis entailed applying codes to data from observation and interviews and deriving themes using the principles of family-centered care as an interpretive lens. Results Four themes emerged that suggested incomplete alignment between FCR practices and principles of family-centered care. 1) FCR provided a forum for information sharing; nonetheless, medical jargon sometimes limited communication. 2) Medical teams approached families with practices intended to demonstrated respect, but contextual factors served to undermine this intent. 3) FCR gave family members the opportunity to participate in care but did not guarantee their involvement. 4) FCR were a starting point for collaboration around plan making, but did not guarantee that collaboration occurred. Conclusions Although FCR practices may set the stage for family-centered care, they do not necessarily ensure that the principles of family-centered care are upheld. Efforts to more effectively deliver FCR should consider physical, organizational, and cultural factors that influence both patient/family and medical team behavior.
A novel inducible expression system to study transdominant mutants of HIV-1 Vpr.

In this study, an episomal system for ecdysone-inducible gene expression was developed. Human embryonic kidney 293 cells (293VE) expressing a heterodimer of modified ecdysone and retinoid X receptors and the Epstein–Barr nuclear antigen-1 were screened. Plasmids containing the EBV replication origin, oriP, and the ecdysone-response element could replicate and persist in 293VE cells to inducibly express luciferase or Vpr. The induction level, tested with luciferase reporter plasmid, varied among cell lines from 254- to 2056-fold. In one highly inducible cell line, HIV-1 Vpr was expressed well and caused G2 cell cycle arrest in the presence of the inducer, while in the absence of the inducer, no Vpr protein or cell cycle arrest could be detected. Using different selection markers, HIV-1 Vpr was coexpressed with Vpr mutants defective in phosphorylation at Ser79 and G2 cell cycle arrest activity. These Vpr mutants were transdominant to wild-type Vpr for G2 cell cycle arrest activity, but did not alter wild-type Vpr phosphorylation. It is likely that the transdominant mutants and wild-type Vpr compete for a downstream target(s) of G2 cell cycle arrest.
A Simple Model of Water and the Hydrophobic Effect

We use a simple computational model, proposed originally by Ben-Naim, to study the anomalous properties of water and the hydrophobic effect. Water molecules are modeled as two-dimensional (2D) Lennard-Jones disks, with three orientation-dependent hydrogen-bonding arms, arranged as in the Mercedes Benz (MB) logo. Phase space is explored using NPT Monte Carlo simulations. For pure water, the MB model qualitatively predicts the density anomaly (and the related negative thermal expansion coefficient at low temperature), the minimum in the isothermal compressibility as a function of temperature, the large anomalous heat capacity, and freezing to the 2D model analogue of ice, a low-density hexagonal crystal phase. For the solvation of nonpolar solutes (disks without H bonds), the model predicts the experimental trends with temperature of the free energy, entropy, enthalpy, molar volume, and heat capacity. A unique feature of these simulations is that they provide well-converged heat capacities of transfer, an i...