cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Interfacial microstructure of NiSix/HfO2/SiOx/Si gate stacks

Integration of NiSix based fully silicided metal gates with HfO2 high-k gate dielectrics offers promise for further scaling of complementary metal-oxide- semiconductor devices. A combination of high resolution transmission electron microscopy and small probe electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis has been applied to study interfacial reactions in the undoped gate stack. NiSi was found to be polycrystalline with the grain size decreasing from top to bottom of NiSix film. Ni content varies near the NiSi/HfOx interface whereby both Ni-rich and monosilicide phases were observed. Spatially non-uniform distribution of oxygen along NiSix/HfO2 interface was observed by dark field Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy and EELS. Interfacial roughness of NiSix/HfOx was found higher than that of poly-Si/HfO2, likely due to compositional non-uniformity of NiSix. No intermixing between Hf, Ni and Si beyond interfacial roughness was observed.
Investigation of labeled amino acid side-chain motion in collagen using 13C nuclear magnetic resonance

Abstract 13 C 1 H double magnetic resonance was used to study the interactions and mobility of certain amino acid side-chains of collagen. Samples of collagen, labeled with [3- 13 C]alanine (a small hydrophobic amino acid), [ methyl - 13 C]-methionine (a large hydrophobic), [6- 13 C]lysine (positively charged at physiological pH), and [5- 13 C]glutamic acid (negatively charged), were prepared via chick calvaria culture. 13 C linewidths, lineshapes, NOE † values, and T 1 values were measured for each sample as fibrils and as native (helical) material in solution. The measured T 1 and NOE values for [3- 13 C]alanine-labeled collagen in solution, in conjunction with an ellipsoid model for collagen, indicate that the methyl rotation rate is 2 × 10 10 s −1 and that the overall rate of diffusion about the long axis is 4× 10 6 s −1 . These values agree with values for model compounds which undergo internal methyl rotation ( Lyerla & Horikawa, 1976 ) and with previous n.m.r. measurements of the rate of rotational diffusion of backbone ([1- 13 C]- and [2- 13 C]glycine)-labeled collagen ( Jelinski & Torchia, 1979 ). In addition, the n.m.r. data indicate that the terminal carbons of lysine, methionine and glutamic acid in labeled collagen (both in solution and as fibrils) are characterized by reorientation rates of approximately 10 9 to 10 10 s −1 . Taken together, the n.m.r. data provide strong evidence that the contact regions between the helices in collagen fibrils are fluid and that there is not a unique set of interactions between amino acid side-chains. In this respect, these n.m.r. results support current concepts of globular protein structure which suggest that a variety of conformations, in dynamic equilibrium, are responsible for the structure and function of proteins.
GEN: a database interface generator for HPC programs

In this paper, we present GEN an interface generator that takes user-supplied C declarations and provides the necessary interface needed to load and access data from common scientific array databases such as SciDB and Rasdaman. GEN can be used for storing the output of parallel computations directly into the database and automates the previously used inefficient ingestion process which requires development of special database schemas for each computation. Further, GEN requires no modifications to existing C code and can build a working interface in minutes. We show how GEN can be used for Cosmology analysis programs to output data sets in real-time to a database and use for subsequent analysis. We show that GEN introduces modest overhead in program execution but is more efficient than writing to files and then loading. More significantly, it significantly reduces the programmatic overhead of learning new database languages.
Discourse and Discipline at the National Research Council: A Bureaucratic Bildungsroman

Francois Ewald has recently illuminated some critical dimensions of Foucault's (1980) analysis of the increasing control of the body and the individual throughout the moder era. Ewald argues that a transformed notion of the "norm" lies at the heart of this extension of nonjuridical control; for him, "modernity [lies in] partaking of the logic of the norm" (1991:153). Once associated primarily with moral rectitude, the "essential reference [of the norm]... is to the average; the norm now refers to the play of oppositions between the normal and the abnormal or pathological" (Ewald 1991:140). An abstraction from the aggregate, the norm enables the comprehension of complex social and economic worlds. It shapes policy and practice, as well as individuals' understandings of their own identity and experience. Ewald's analysis focuses on industrial standardization and on insurance and "risk management" as two institutional arenas within which the rise of the norm can be clearly documented. Central to industrial standardization, the development of a shared system of measures and models, is communicative normalization. This makes possible the "institution of the perfect common language of pure communication by an industrial society, a language of precision and certainty, a language without puns, stylistic features or interference" (1991:151), in short, a language of apparent pure reference. (Cf. Silverstein's 1987 consideration of the ideology of monoglot "standard" English in the contemporary United States.) Ewald's consideration of insurance, risk management, and the consequent transformation of liability and law hinges upon the rise of statistics as interpre-
A daily analysis of physical activity and satisfaction with life in emerging adults.

Objective: Subjective well-being has well-established positive health consequences. During emerging adulthood, from ages 18 to 25 years, people’s global evaluations of their well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life [SWL]) appear to worsen more than any other time in the adult life span, indicating that this population would benefit from strategies to enhance SWL. In these studies, we investigated top-down (i.e., time-invariant, trait-like) and bottom-up (i.e., time-varying, state-like) influences of physical activity (PA) on daily SWL. Methods: Two daily diary studies lasting 8 days (N=190) and 14 days (N=63) were conducted with samples of emerging adults enrolled in college to evaluate relations between daily PA and SWL while controlling for established and plausible top-down and bottom-up influences on SWL. Results: In both studies, multilevel models indicated that people reported greater SWL on days when they were more active (a within-person, bottom-up effect). Top-down effects of PA were not significant in either study. These findings were robust when we controlled for competing top-down influences (e.g., sex, personality traits, self-esteem, body mass index, mental health symptoms, fatigue) and bottom-up influences (e.g., daily self-esteem, daily mental health symptoms, daily fatigue). Conclusions: We concluded that SWL was impacted by people’s daily PA rather than their trait level of PA over time. These findings extend evidence that PA is a health behavior with important consequences for daily well-being and should be considered when developing national policies to enhance SWL.
Nanoparticles that deliver triplex-forming peptide nucleic acid molecules correct F508del CFTR in airway epithelium

Cystic fibrosis is a lethal genetic disorder commonly caused by the F508del mutation which is not amenable to gene therapy. Here, the authors use triplex-forming PNA molecules and donor DNA in biodegradable polymer nanoparticles to correct F508del and achieve clinically relevant levels of gene editing.
Peptidergic transmission in the brain. III. Hippocampal inhibition by the amygdala

The mechanism of arginine vasopressin (AVP) action in the rat hippocampus has been determined. The peptide activates inhibitory interneurons and constricts cerebral microvessels. In the whole animal, each of these direct actions has secondary consequences for the excitability of pyramidal cells. Recent studies have shown that a peptide similar to AVP mediates endogenous neurotransmission in the hippocampus. Here we report experiments showing that the endogenous peptide activates the same mechanisms as exogenously applied AVP. The endogenous AVP-like peptide has no effect on the presynaptic fiber volley, or on pure somatic and dendritic postsynaptic potentials. These results are taken to exclude presynaptic mechanisms as explanations for the peptide's action. The endogenously released peptide inhibits individual pyramidal cells in single unit recording and excites presumed interneurons, just as AVP itself is known to act. The endogenous peptide is released only by stimuli applied to a nucleus that contains immunoreactive AVP and projects to the hippocampus.
Controtle Substitutional Doping of Cdte Thin Films and Cd 1-xMn xTe-CdTe Superlattices

We report the successful substitutional doping of CdTe epilayers grown by a new technique: photoassisted molecular beam epitaxy, in which the substrate is illuminated during the film deposition process. This new technique was found to produce dramatic changes in the electrical transport properties of the epilayers. In particular, highly conducting n-type and p-type CdTe films have been grown using In and Sb as n-type and p-type dopants,respectively. Photoassisted MBE has also recently been employed to produce for the first time highly conducting CdMnTe epilayers and Cd 1-xMnxTe-CdTe superlattices.
Local knowledge and digital movie composing in an after-school literacy program

A Latino teenager participated in an after school digital movie composing program called the Technology and Literacy Project. As a student of color previously identified as at risk for school failure, Horatio's case speaks to a common discrepancy highlighted in sociocultural literacy scholarship. He was competent and engaged with numerous literacies outside of school; however, he was not nearly as successful with school-based measures of literacy achievement. This study examines critical incidents in Horatio's composing process to understand how he appropriated symbolic materials and cultural practices from his out-of-school worlds for use in a complex digital movie text. In doing so, the study demonstrates how increasing students' opportunities to draw upon their local knowledge can facilitate sophisticated textual work, as well as problematize what counts as literacy achievement in secondary schools.
Sequential Expression of Acetylcholine Receptor Isoforms in Mesodermalized Xenopus Animal Caps

Abstract Exposure of Xenopus animal pole explants to transforming growth factor β2 (TGF-β2) induced the sequential expression of muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChRs) isoforms and their corresponding mRNAs in cells which normally give rise to ectoderm. Single channel recordings revealed two functional classes of receptors with properties similar to those expressed during normal development of skeletal muscle in vivo. The predominant class of receptors in all patches corresponded to those of embryonic myotomal muscle. Additional receptors resembling those of mature myotomal muscle were observed in older explants. Levels of transcripts encoding the embryonic and adult AChR subunit isoforms varied accordingly. TGF-β2 appears to initiate a developmental program of AChR gene expression which is similar to that found in normally developing muscle.
Hamster cheek pouch preparation for biomicroscopy: A new approach

Abstract Through a small incision on the side of the neck, the connection of the retractor muscle beyond the cheek pouch is cut and the freed cheek pouch is brought out, opened, and mounted over a transparent Lucite block for biomicroscopic observation. This new cheek pouch preparation eliminates the troublesome retraction of the pouch into the animal's mouth, avoids accidental flooding of the animal's mouth by superfusing fluid, provides ample space to manipulate the pouch during the experiment, and preserves the microvascular flow during biomicroscopic study.
Organizational and knowledge management related antecedents of knowledge use: the moderating effect of ambiguity tolerance

To leverage their knowledge resources, many organizations deploy knowledge management systems (KMS), which contain at their core a knowledge repository. Successful use of the knowledge/repository depends largely on knowledge workers who must contribute to the knowledge base as well as use those knowledge objects. We develop and validate an empirical model that explains mechanisms required to reduce knowledge gaps in a firm or business unit, through knowledge contribution and use or reuse. Using the theory of planned behavior and its derivative the technology acceptance model, we find that a feature rich user friendly KMS combined with extrinsic rewards (or incentives) and knowledge self-efficacy are critical to KM success. Tolerance of ambiguity (a personal trait) is a key influence in the causal relationship between incentives and knowledge gaps as well as knowledge self-efficacy and knowledge gaps. The main findings of this study are (1) for ambiguity intolerant individuals, incentives and self-efficacy are as important as the KMS as motivators for knowledge sharing and use, (2) for this group, it is necessary to stress the importance of KM as a means of social persuasion in building knowledge self-efficacy, (3) for the ambiguity tolerant, incentives are not required, and self efficacy is self-determined i.e., KM champions are not required to highlight the importance of KM; in fact the technology (KMS) is all important, a finding that negates conventional wisdom that technology is merely an enabler. In summary, a one-size fits all mindset is not effective, a firm must carefully consider the ambiguity tolerance levels of employees before forging ahead with KM efforts. This becomes all the more important to practitioners because of the recently highlighted differences in ambiguity tolerance between "Millennials" and" Generation Xers". In addition to theory testing in KM, this research also informs KM practice.
Does water swell the ordered domains in polyelectrolyte/clay multilayers?

X-ray diffraction has been used to study the sorption of water by multilayer films containing ordered stacks of alternating layers of an organic polyelectrolyte and individual platelets of a smectite. The position and shape of the 001 reflections due to the ordered polyelectrolyte/platelet stacks were essentially the same when in air at low relative humidity (23–25% RH) and under water. These data indicate that swelling occurs exclusively in X-ray amorphous regions within the film, and that the ordered polyelectrolyte/clay domains themselves are not ‘swellable’ by water.
Environmental and genetic components of flavonoid variation in red oak, Quercus rubra

Abstract Two elevation-related chemotypes of red oak ( Quercus rubra L.) occur in the southern Appalachians. Studies were carried out to evaluate the effects of genetic and environmental factors on these flavonoid profiles. Low elevation trees which contain only kaempferol and quercetin glycosides were used for assessment of within-tree variation. Within a single tree, sun, shade and branch position have only minor quantitative effects on the flavonoid array. To assess the effect of growing locality on flavonoid profiles we collected red oak acorns from eight locations spanning 1455 m elevation in NC and VA, and divided them equally between nursery plots at 75 and 1140 m in elevation. After five years, leaves of each tree were collected and analysed for flavonoid content and quantity. Myricetin-rich high elevation and quercetin-rich low elevation individuals retain their distinctive profiles regardless of planting size. Some quantitative intrapopulational variation in flavonoid constituents exists between high and low elevation grown trees, but is slight and primarily restricted to minor components. Populations from middle elevations are more heterogeneous than those from either high or low elevations. Some of these trees have lower quantities of myricetin glycosides than high elevation trees while others lack them entirely.
Fuzzy random variables

Abstract There are two important sources of uncertainty: randomness and fuzziness. Randomness models the stochastic variability of all possible outcomes of a situation, and fuzziness relates to the unsharp boundaries of the parameters of the model. In this sense, randomness is largely an instrument of a normative analysis that focuses on the future, while fuzziness is more an instrument of a descriptive analysis reflecting the past and its implications. Clearly, randomness and fuzziness are complementary, and so a natural question is how fuzzy variables could interact with the type of random variables found in actuarial science. This article focuses on one important dimension of this issue, fuzzy random variables (FRVs). The goal is to introduce IME readers to FRVs and to illustrate how naturally compatible and complementary randomness and fuzziness are.
Sufficient Statistics as a Generalization of Binning in Spectral X-ray Imaging

It is well known that the energy dependence of X-ray attenuation can be used to characterize materials. Yet, even with energy discriminating photon counting X-ray detectors, it is still unclear how to best form energy dependent measurements for spectral imaging. Common ideas include binning photon counts based on their energies and detectors with both photon counting and energy integrating electronics. These approaches can be generalized to energy weighted measurements, which we prove can form a sufficient statistic for spectral X-ray imaging if the weights used, which we term μ-weights, are basis attenuation functions that can also be used for material decomposition. To study the performance of these different methods, we evaluate the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) of material estimates in the presence of quantum noise. We found that the choice of binning and weighting schemes can greatly affect the performance of material decomposition. Even with optimized thresholds, binning condenses information but incurs penalties to decomposition precision and is not robust to changes in the source spectrum or object size, although this can be mitigated by adding more bins or removing photons of certain energies from the spectrum. On the other hand, because μ -weighted measurements form a sufficient statistic for spectral imaging, the CRLB of the material decomposition estimates is identical to the quantum noise limited performance of a system with complete energy information of all photons. Finally, we show that μ -weights lead to increased conspicuity over other methods in a simulated calcium contrast experiment.
Hemispheric differences in split-brain monkeys learning sequential comparisons.

Abstract Twelve split-brain rhesus monkeys were tested for differences in the abilities of their two cerebral hemispheres to learn discriminations based on the comparison of sequentially-presented visual stimuli. Overall there was no generalized advantage for either the left or right hemisphere. There was, however, a significant correlation between each monkey's handedness and the hemisphere that learned more readily; the more proficient hemisphere tended to be contralateral to the pre- operatively preferred hand. This result raises the possibility that handedness in monkeys may be more closely related to cognitive processing than is usually believed.
Unexpected origins of the enhanced pairing affinity of 2′-fluoro-modified RNA

Various chemical modifications are currently being evaluated for improving the efficacy of short interfering RNA (siRNA) duplexes as antisense agents for gene silencing in vivo. Among the 2'-ribose modifications assessed to date, 2'deoxy-2'-fluoro-RNA (2'-F-RNA) has unique properties for RNA interference (RNAi) applications. Thus, 2'-F-modified nucleotides are well tolerated in the guide (antisense) and passenger (sense) siRNA strands and the corresponding duplexes lack immunostimulatory effects, enhance nuclease resistance and display improved efficacy in vitro and in vivo compared with unmodified siRNAs. To identify potential origins of the distinct behaviors of RNA and 2'-F-RNA we carried out thermodynamic and X-ray crystallographic analyses of fully and partially 2'-F-modified RNAs. Surprisingly, we found that the increased pairing affinity of 2'-F-RNA relative to RNA is not, as commonly assumed, the result of a favorable entropic contribution ('conformational preorganization'), but instead primarily based on enthalpy. Crystal structures at high resolution and osmotic stress demonstrate that the 2'-F-RNA duplex is less hydrated than the RNA duplex. The enthalpy-driven, higher stability of the former hints at the possibility that the 2'-substituent, in addition to its important function in sculpting RNA conformation, plays an underappreciated role in modulating Watson-Crick base pairing strength and potentially π-π stacking interactions.
Dynamical Outcomes of Quenching: Reflections on a Conical Intersection

This review focuses on experimental studies of the dynamical outcomes following collisional quenching of electronically excited OH A2Σ+ radicals by molecular partners. The experimental observables include the branching between reactive and nonreactive decay channels, kinetic energy release, and quantum state distributions of the products. Complementary theoretical investigations reveal regions of strong nonadiabatic coupling, known as conical intersections, which facilitate the quenching process. The dynamical outcomes observed experimentally are connected to the local forces and geometric properties of the nuclei in the conical intersection region. Dynamical calculations for the benchmark OH-H2 system are in good accord with experimental observations, demonstrating that the outcomes reflect the strong coupling in the conical intersection region as the system evolves from the excited electronic state to quenched products.
Pico Cell Range Expansion with Interference Mitigation toward LTE-Advanced Heterogeneous Networks

Deploying Pico eNodeBs (PeNBs) throughout a Macro cell layout is a promising solution to enhance system capacity and user throughput. However, strong received power from Macro eNodeBs (MeNBs) makes the Pico cell areas narrow. This causes limited cell splitting gain. Cell Range Expansion (CRE), which allows a User Equipment (UE) to be served by a cell with weaker received power, is simple and typical one of alternative cell associations to enhance offloading but it causes downlink (DL) interference issue in not only data and also control channels (CCHs). In this paper, we investigate performance of CRE with various bias settings and show that a moderate bias setting is effective to enhance capacity and user throughput. With respect to the DL interference issue in CCHs, we propose to support coordination of Lightly Loaded CCH transmission Subframe (LLCS) in LTE-Advanced.
RECOLONIZING WOLVES AND MESOPREDATOR SUPPRESSION OF COYOTES: IMPACTS ON PRONGHORN POPULATION DYNAMICS

Food web theory predicts that the loss of large carnivores may contribute to elevated predation rates and, hence, declining prey populations, through the process of mesopredator release. However, opportunities to test predictions of the mesopredator release hypothesis are rare, and the extent to which changes in predation rates influence prey population dynamics may not be clear due to a lack of demographic information on the prey population of interest. We utilized spatial and seasonal heterogeneity in wolf distribution and abundance to evaluate whether mesopredator release of coyotes (Canis latrans), resulting from the extirpation of wolves (Canis lupus) throughout much of the United States, contributes to high rates of neonatal mortality in ungulates. To test this hypothesis, we contrasted causes of mortality and survival rates of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) neonates captured at wolf-free and wolf-abundant sites in western Wyoming, USA, between 2002 and 2004. We then used these data to parameterize stochastic population models to heuristically assess the impact of wolves on pronghorn population dynamics due to changes in neonatal survival. Coyote predation was the primary cause of mortality at all sites, but mortality due to coyotes was 34% lower in areas utilized by wolves (P < 0.001). Based on simulation modeling, the realized population growth rate was 0.92 based on fawn survival in the absence of wolves, and 1.06 at sites utilized by wolves. Thus, wolf restoration is predicted to shift the trajectory of the pronghorn population from a declining to an increasing trend. Our results suggest that reintroductions of large carnivores may influence biodiversity through effects on prey populations mediated by mesopredator suppression. In addition, our approach, which combines empirical data on the population of interest with information from other data sources, demonstrates the utility of using simulation modeling to more fully evaluate ecological theories by moving beyond estimating changes in vital rates to analyses of population-level impacts.
Topicality, time, and sentiment in online news comments

In this paper we examine the relationships between news comment topicality, temporality, sentiment, and quality in a dataset of 54,540 news comments. Initial observations indicate that comment sentiments, both positive and negative, can be useful indicators of discourse quality, and that aggregate temporal patterns in positive sentiment exist on comment threads.
Differential Lung Uptake of 99mTc-Hexamethylpropyleneamine Oxime and 99mTc-Duramycin in the Chronic Hyperoxia Rat Model

Noninvasive radionuclide imaging has the potential to identify and assess mechanisms involved in particular stages of lung injury that occur with acute respiratory distress syndrome, for example. Lung uptake of 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) is reported to be partially dependent on the redox status of the lung tissue whereas 99mTc-duramycin, a new marker of cell injury, senses cell death via apoptosis or necrosis. Thus, we investigated changes in lung uptake of these agents in rats exposed to hyperoxia for prolonged periods, a common model of acute lung injury. Methods: Male Sprague–Dawley rats were preexposed to either normoxia (21% O2) or hyperoxia (85% O2) for up to 21 d. For imaging, the rats were anesthetized and injected intravenously with either 99mTc-HMPAO or 99mTc-duramycin (both 37–74 MBq), and planar images were acquired using a high-sensitivity modular γ-camera. Subsequently, 99mTc-macroagreggated albumin (37 MBq, diameter 10–40 μm) was injected intravenously, imaged, and used to define a lung region of interest. The lung-to-background ratio was used as a measure of lung uptake. Results: Hyperoxia exposure resulted in a 74% increase in 99mTc-HMPAO lung uptake, which peaked at 7 d and persisted for the 21 d of exposure. 99mTc-duramycin lung uptake was also maximal at 7 d of exposure but decreased to near control levels by 21 d. The sustained elevation of 99mTc-HMPAO uptake suggests ongoing changes in lung redox status whereas cell death appears to have subsided by 21 d. Conclusion: These results suggest the potential use of 99mTc-HMPAO and 99mTc-duramycin as redox and cell-death imaging biomarkers, respectively, for the in vivo identification and assessment of different stages of lung injury.
Further results on decentralized change detection

We consider the problem of detecting an abrupt change in a system based on stochastic observations of the system. The centralized version of this problem well-understood and has been solved under a variety of criteria since the seminal work by Page (1954). A decentralized formulation of the change detection problem was considered by Teneketzis and Varaiya (1984) and by Crow and Schwartz (see IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron Syst., vol.32, no.1, p.267-83, 1996) with each of the sensors performing a CUSUM type test. A formulation of the decentralized change detection problem with a fusion center making the final decision about the change was given by Veeravalli (see Proc. 1995 Internat. Symp. Inform. Th., Whistler, BC, Canada, p.294, 1995). Here we present further results on this problem with an emphasis on solutions for practical information structures.
Characteristics of coplanar transmission lines on multilayer substrates: modeling and experiments

Characteristics of coplanar transmission lines on multilayer substrates expressed in analytic formulas have been obtained using conformal mapping. The accuracy of these formulas has been verified experimentally on a variety of coplanar transmission lines using differential electro-optic (DEOS) sampling. For coplanar waveguides, the theory differs from the experiment by less than 3%; for coplanar striplines, the differences are less than 6%.
Sexual Orientation Identity Formation among Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youths: Multiple Patterns of Milestone Experiences

This study examined variations in “coming out” for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths (N= 72), ages 16 to 27. To indicate the timing and sequence of developmental stages, the respondents reported the ages at which they had completed 10 milestone events involving self-awareness, sexual experiences, and disclosure to others, and also reported on current immersion in gay/lesbian/bisexual social networks. Cluster analysis identified five patterns of experiences. Three groups had generally early trajectories, two of which had specific delays in either sexual activity or disclosure. Two other clusters had relatively late trajectories, one of which also reported the lowest levels of gay/lesbian/bisexual social immersion. Comfort with sexual orientation was greatest in persons with early patterns and lowest within the group with late trajectories and limited gay/lesbian/bisexual social immersion.
Fascins, a family of actin bundling proteins.

Fascin is an actin-bundling protein that was first isolated from cytoplasmic extracts of sea urchin eggs [Kane, 1975: J. Cell Biol. 66:305–315] and was the first bundling protein to be charactrized in vitro. Subsequent work has shown that fascin bundles actin filaments in fertilized egg microvilli and filopodia of phagocytic coelomocytes [Otto et al., 1980: Cell Motil. 1:31–40; Otto and Bryan, 1981: Cell Motil. 1:179–192]. Fifteen years later, the molecular cloning of sea urchin fascin [Bryan et al., 1993: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 90:9115–9119] has led to the identification and characterization of homologous proteins in Drosophila [Cant et al., 1994: J. Cell Biol. 125:369–380], Xenopus [Holthuis et al., 1994: Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1219:184–188], rodents [Edwards et al., 1995: J. Biol. Chem. 270:10764–10770], and humans [Duh et al., 1994: DNA Cell Biol. 13:821–827; Mosialos et al., 1994: J. Virol. 68:7320–7328] that bundle actin filaments into structures which stabilize cellular processes ranging from mechanosensory bristles to the filopodia of nerve growth cones. Fascin has emerged from relative obscurity as an exotic invertebrate egg protein to being recognized as a widely expressed protein found in a broad spectrum of tissues and organisms. This purpose of this review is to relate the early studies done on sea urchin and HeLa cell fascins to the recent molecular biology that defines a family of bundling proteins, and discuss the current state of knowledge regarding fascin structure and function. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
The dynein family at a glance

Three families of cytoskeletal motor protein – the myosins, kinesins and dyneins – have evolved to mediate transport of cells and of structures and materials within cells in eukaryotes. Whereas myosin uses actin polymers to carry out its tasks, kinesin and dynein are microtubule-associated
Nerve collagens from diabetic and nondiabetic Sprague–Dawley and biobreeding rats: an atomic force microscopy study

Background Alterations in rat’s nerve collagens due to diabetes may be related to the permanence of damage due to diabetic neuropathy. We (1) provide a methodology for determining the diameters of collagen fibers accounting for atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging artifacts, (2) present data on structural differences in sciatic nerve endoneurial, epineurial and tail tendon collagens of control and diabetic Sprague–Dawley and BioBreeding rats, and (3) compare results with literature values.
Infant-nonmother interactions of free-ranging mantled howlers (Alouatta palliata) in Costa Rica

Proximate and ultimate explanations of interactions between infants and nonmothers vary depending upon the relatedness of the interactors. We investigated interactions of infants and nonmothers from a 22-month continuous study and from the long-term monitoring of the mantled howler population of La Pacifica, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica. Relatedness is low or absent in these mantled howler groups. Juvenile females appeared to practice care skills with older infants, but as most first infants died, they failed to benefit. Infant positive interactions with adults occurred with the mother and probable father. Other adult females behaved aggressively toward the youngest infants. Mothers were retentive of infants and responded negatively to these interactions, suggesting that they perceived them as threatening. Interactions with infants appear to reflect competition in groups of unrelated adults. A review of other populations of Alouatta palliata and other species of howlers indicate variability in social group size and suggest variability in intragroup relatedness. We suggest that further study will confirm that social behavior (including interactions with infants) will vary by resource availability (group size) and associated demographic patterns (male and female migration) that affect relatedness in howler social groups.
Grading the thalamus: how can an 'Eph' be excellent?

The Eph family of receptor tyrosine kinases and their partner ligands, the ephrins, mediate cell–cell interactions in the developing nervous system. Signaling events between Eph receptors and ephrin ligands on interacting cells affect the growth, maturation, migration and connectivity of individual neurons and neural networks. Here we review the known roles of Eph–ephrin signaling in the development of the thalamus and its connections, and pose new questions for experimental study.
No forests without trees: particulars and patterns in visualizing personal communication

When people use visualizations of conversational archives, they typically reflect on particular events, rather than patterns of activity over time. We explore whether this is a fundamental aspect of how people use data to reflect on the past through pieTime, a visualization we developed that focuses on presenting aggregated behavioral data at timescales from hours to months. It builds on work in conversation visualization and lifelogging by focusing on rhythms rather than details, supporting reflection across media, and using phone logs to complement CMC media. A 15-person evaluation supports findings from prior work about the importance of particular details and storytelling in tools that support reflection, even when the design goals emphasize higherlevel patterns. Still, aggregate patterns provide additional insight into personal behavior, suggesting that systems that integrate both particulars and patterns may be especially valuable, especially when they also help people build and manage their identities.
Multi-Resolution Language Grounding with Weak Supervision

Language is given meaning through its correspondence with a world representation. This correspondence can be at multiple levels of granularity or resolutions. In this paper, we introduce an approach to multi-resolution language grounding in the extremely challenging domain of professional soccer commentaries. We define and optimize a factored objective function that allows us to leverage discourse structure and the compositional nature of both language and game events. We show that finer resolution grounding helps coarser resolution grounding, and vice versa. Our method results in an F1 improvement of more than 48% versus the previous state of the art for fine-resolution grounding 1 .
Stochastic convergence acceleration through basis enrichment of polynomial chaos expansions

Given their mathematical structure, methods for computational stochastic analysis based on orthogonal approximations and projection schemes are well positioned to draw on developments from deterministic approximation theory. This is demonstrated in the present paper by extending basis enrichment from deterministic analysis to stochastic procedures involving the polynomial chaos decomposition. This enrichment is observed to have a significant effect on the efficiency and performance of these stochastic approximations in the presence of non-continuous dependence of the solution on the stochastic parameters. In particular, given the polynomial structure of these approximations, the severe degradation in performance observed in the neighbourhood of such discontinuities is effectively mitigated. An enrichment of the polynomial chaos decomposition is proposed in this paper that can capture the behaviour of such non-smooth functions by integrating a priori knowledge about their behaviour. The proposed enrichment scheme is applied to a random eigenvalue problem where the smoothness of the functional dependence between the random eigenvalues and the random system parameters is controlled by the spacing between the eigenvalues. It is observed that through judicious selection of enrichment functions, the spectrum of such a random system can be more efficiently characterized, even for systems with closely spaced eigenvalues. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Midazolam-induced amnesia reduces memory for details and affects the erp correlates of recollection and familiarity

Dual process models suggest that recognition memory is supported by familiarity and recollection processes. Previous research administering amnesic drugs and measuring ERPs during recognition memory have provided evidence for separable neural correlates of familiarity and recollection. This study examined the effect of midazolam-induced amnesia on memory for details and the proposed ERP correlates of recognition. Midazolam or saline was administered while subjects studied oriented pictures of common objects. ERPs were recorded during a recognition test 1 day later. Subjects' discrimination of old and new pictures as well as orientation discrimination was worse when they were given midazolam instead of saline. As predicted, the parietal old/new effect was decreased with the administration of midazolam. However, weaker effects on FN400 old/new effects were also observed. These results provide converging pharmacological and electrophysiological evidence that midazolam primarily affects recollection as indexed by parietal ERP old/new effects and memory for orientation, while also exerting some weaker effects on familiarity as indexed by FN400 old/new effects.
P2Y2 RECEPTORS AND GRK2 ARE INVOLVED IN OSCILLATORY FLUID FLOW INDUCED ERK1/2 RESPONSES IN CHONDROCYTES

Mechanical loading is an important factor regulating cartilage metabolism maintained by chondrocytes. However, some of its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed a chondrogenic cell line ATDC5 to investigate roles of P2Y(2) and GRK2 in chondrocyte mechanotransduction. We first confirmed the expression of chondrocyte markers in differentiated ATDC5 cells. We then exposed both differentiated and undifferentiated ATDC5 cells to oscillatory fluid flow, and found that differentiated ATDC5 cells responded to oscillatory fluid flow by increasing COX-2 and aggrecan expressions. More importantly, fluid flow induced ERK1/2 response in differentiated cells was increased more than 10 times compared to those in undifferentiated cells. Furthermore, we found that P2Y(2) mRNA and protein levels in differentiated ATDC5 cells were significantly higher than those in undifferentiated cells. In contrast, GRK2 protein levels in differentiated cells were significantly lower than those in undifferentiated cells. Finally, overexpressions of P2Y(2) and GRK2 in differentiated ATDC5 cells result in a 34% increase and a 21% decrease of the ERK1/2 phosphorylation, respectively, in response to oscillatory fluid flow, suggesting important roles of P2Y(2) and GRK2 in chondrocyte mechanotransduction.
The Origin of Maiz de Ocho

not intended to imply that they were different from the widespread, tiny, eight-rowed race from numerous older sites from Tehuacan, Mexico, to Ayacucho, Peru. The cobs from these and other sites in New Mexico are only one starting point for an evolution of one form ofMaiz de Ocho as it acquired the two recessive genes for a thick rachis (Galinat 1969), then became adapted to shorter growing seasons with longer day-lengths, and finally, with a correlated response, evolved its largest kernels in upstate New York and Ontario after a 400-year spread starting at about A.D. 700 in the Southwest (Galinat and Gunnerson 1963). Selection for early flowering may have started in the U.S. Southwest as a means to
Maternal protein intake is not associated with infant blood pressure

Background Animal data show that low protein intake in pregnancy programs higher offspring blood pressure, but similar data in humans are limited. We examined the associations of first and second trimester maternal protein intake with offspring blood pressure (BP) at the age of six months.
Volatility and systemic properties of etaconazole and fenapanil in apple

(1982). Volatility and systemic properties of etaconazole and fenapanil in apple. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology: Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 243-246.
Preparation of 1-methyl-4-[4-(7-chloro-4-quinolyl-[3-14C]-amino)benzoyl]piperazine

1-Methyl-4-[4-(7-chloro-4-quninolyl-[3- 14 C]-amino)-benzoyl]piperazine (V) was prepared for pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic evaluation. The synthesis of V was accomplished first by a modified Claisen ester condensation reaction of diethyl-[2- 14 C]-malonate, triethyl orthoformate, and acetic anhydride in the presence of ZnCl 2 to form ethyl ethoxymethylene-[2- 14 C]-malonate (1), which was further condensed with m-chloroaniline to yield 7-chloro-4-hydroxy-3-[ 14 C]-quinoline-ethyl-carboxylate (II). Saponification of II yielded the corresponding carboxylic acid (III). Decarboxylation of the acid group upon heating and a substitution of the 4-OH group of compound 111 into chlorine atom with POCl 3 produced 4,7-dichloro-[3- 14 C]-quinoline (IV), which then was reacted with 1 -methyl-4-(p-amino-benzoyl)piperazine to form the title compound V. There were a total of five steps of reaction, with a overall yield of 34.3%. The specific activity was 1,74 mCi/mmol
TERS Detection of αVβ3 Integrins in Intact Cell Membranes

Integrins are important membrane receptors that form focal adhesions with the extracellular matrix and are transmembrane signaling proteins. We demonstrate that nanoparticles functionalized with c-RGDfC ligands bind to intact cell membranes and selectively enhance the amino acid signals of the integrin receptor when coupled with tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) detection. Controlling the plasmonic interaction between the functionalized nanoparticle and the TERS tip provides a clear Raman signal from αVβ3 integrins in the cell membrane that matches the signal of the purified integrin receptor. Random aggregation of nanoparticles on the cell does not provide the same spectral information. Chemical characterization of membrane receptors in intact cellular membranes is important for understanding membrane signaling and drug targeting. These results provide a new method to investigate the chemical interactions associated with ligand binding to membrane receptors in cells.
Empirical studies of a safe regression test selection technique

Regression testing is an expensive testing procedure utilized to validate modified software. Regression test selection techniques attempt to reduce the cost of regression testing by selecting a subset of a program's existing test suite. Safe regression test selection techniques select subsets that, under certain well-defined conditions, exclude no tests (from the original test suite) that if executed would reveal faults in the modified software. Many regression test selection techniques, including several safe techniques, have been proposed, but few have been subjected to empirical validation. This paper reports empirical studies on a particular safe regression test selection technique, in which the technique is compared to the alternative regression testing strategy of running all tests. The results indicate that safe regression test selection can be cost-effective, but that its costs and benefits vary widely based on a number of factors. In particular, test suite design can significantly affect the effectiveness of test selection, and coverage-based test suites may provide test selection results superior to those provided by test suites that are not coverage-based.
Zero-Forcing DFE Transceiver Design Over Slowly Time-Varying MIMO Channels Using ST-GTD

This paper considers the optimization of transceivers with decision feedback equalizers (DFE) for slowly time-varying memoryless multi-input multi-output (MIMO) channels. The data vectors are grouped into space-time blocks (ST-blocks) for the spatial and temporal precoding to take advantage of the diversity offered by time-varying channels. The space-time generalized triangular decomposition (ST-GTD) is proposed for application in time-varying channels. Under the assumption that the instantaneous channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT) and receiver (CSIR), and the channel prediction are available, we also propose the space-time geometric mean decomposition (ST-GMD) system based on ST-GTD. Under perfect channel prediction, the system minimizes both the arithmetic MSE at the feedback detector, and the average un-coded bit error rate (BER) in moderate high signal to noise ratio (SNR) region. For practical applications, a novel ST-GTD based system which does not require channel prediction but shares the same asymptotic BER performance with the ST-GMD system is also proposed. At the moderate high SNR region, our analysis and numerical results show that all the proposed systems have better BER performance than the conventional GMD-based systems over time-varying channels; the average BERs of the proposed systems are non-increasing functions of the ST-block size.
Correlation of power loss to string and module level performance for arrays of c-Si and CIGS technologies in the North East climate

The generated power output of a PV plant is generally less than the estimated power output. This results in a reduced available power for usage or revenue. This reduction can be minimized with proper real time monitoring of the PV array. The importance of string level monitoring using sensors at the combiner level to identify triggers for underperforming strings, and its further analysis using I–V curve monitoring and infrared imaging, is illustrated in this study. The c-Si string level monitoring indicates that a 2–5% percent difference in Pmax is not always driven by a common cause, with the one array having a reduction in current and another due to voltage differences‥ The overall degradation rates are within 0.3% for the 3 year operation period of the array. The correlation of the degradation rate to the performance metrics is presented along with the weather corrected performance ratio of the arrays which is calculated to be 85–90%.