cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Loss of Bardet–Biedl syndrome protein-8 (BBS8) perturbs olfactory function, protein localization, and axon targeting

Bardet–Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a pleiotropic, heterogeneous human disease whose etiology lies primarily in dysfunctional basal bodies and/or cilia. Both BBS patients and several BBS mouse models exhibit impaired olfactory function. To explore the nature of olfactory defects in BBS, a genetic ablation of the mouse Bbs8 gene that incorporates a fluorescent reporter protein was created. The endogenous BBS8 protein and reporter are particularly abundant in olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), and specific BBS8 antibodies reveal staining in the dendritic knob in a shell-like structure that surrounds the basal bodies. Bbs8-null mice have reduced olfactory responses to a number of odorants, and immunohistochemical analyses reveal a near-complete loss of cilia from OSNs and mislocalization of proteins normally enriched in cilia. To visualize altered protein localization in OSNs, we generated a SLP3eGFP knock-in mouse and imaged the apical epithelium, including dendritic knobs and proximal cilia, in ex vivo tissue preparations. Additionally, protein reagents that reflect the characteristic neuronal activity of each OSN revealed altered activity in Bbs8-null cells. In addition to previously known defects at the ciliary border, we also observed aberrant targeting of OSN axons to the olfactory bulb; axons expressing the same receptor display reduced fasciculation and project to multiple targets in the olfactory bulb. We suggest that loss of BBS8 leads to a dramatic and variable reduction in cilia, the essential signaling platform for olfaction, which alters the uniformity of responses in populations of OSNs expressing the same receptor, thereby contributing to the observed axon-targeting defects.
Studies on the artificial feeding of the aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer)—III. Some major nutritional requirements

Abstract The development of synthetic diets on which both apteriform and alatiform larvae of Myzus persicae (Sulzer) could be reared to the adult stage is discussed. By the deletion or modification in concentration of particular dietary components, their effects on larval growth and on adult survival and larviposition were determined. Sugar was essential for survival, and sucrose concentrations between 10 and 20% were optimal for both larvae and adults. Larval growth was good with concentrations between 2 1 2 and 40% of sugar, but with adults, survival and larviposition deteriorated markedly with concentrations below 10%. No larval growth occurred without amino acids in the diet; with less than 2 per cent of amino acids growth rates fell sharply, the optimal level being about 3 per cent of the diet. The longevity of adults was unaffected by the absence of amino acids, but high rates of larviposition depended upon their presence; a maximal effect on larviposition was achieved with 0·5 per cent of amino acids in the diet. No larval growth occurred if either of the two salts in the diet were omitted, owing to stringent requirements for potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus; adult survival and larviposition were adversely affected if any of these were omitted. A requirement for water-soluble vitamins could be demonstrated only in larvae from parents which had themselves been maintained on the vitamin-deficient regime before bearing the larvae. Under these circumstances, the deleterious effect of vitamin deprivation on the larvae was shown to depend upon the duration of prior maternal deprivation. Apterous adults reared from birth on synthetic diet were able to deposit a small number of live larvae, but these were unable to grow and develop properly although many lived for considerable periods. Adults reared from birth on diet and then transferred to plants deposited larvae which grew and developed normally. From this it is argued that a comparatively simple deficiency condition is involved in the failure of diet-reared aphids to reproduce. The foregoing nutritional information is discussed in relation to the circumstance that the same major dietarily essential components also play an important role in phagostimulation, and the bearing of this on ideas about the relationship of aphids to their natural host plants is considered.
Identifying vowels in CVC syllables: effects of inserting silence and noise.

Listeners were asked to identify natural vowels in /d_d/ context under various deletion conditions. Deletion intervals, which were centered about the syllable midpoint, ranged from 60% to 90% of the syllable duration and contained either silence or broadband noise. In one condition, the three syllable types were /did/, /ded/, and /dud/; in the other condition, the three syllable types were /did/, /ded/, and/dAdV. Identification performance in the 60% and 70% deletion conditions was not substantially worse than for full syllables. Even the 90% deletion conditions yielded performance well above chance, indicating that significant coarticulatory information for vowels is contained in the first and last 10 or 15 msec of the syllable. For the short-vowel stimuli (/did/, /d∈d/, and /dλV) in the 90% deletion condition, a series of discriminant analyses were performed to assess the relative contribution of several acoustic variables to the statistical separation of the vowel categories. Several different combinations of acoustic variables (including formant frequencies at particular temporal locations and formant frequency differences over time) were sufficient to yield significant separation of the three vowel categories. However, in general, the performance of the discriminant classification program correlated only weakly with the identification performance of the listeners.
Rent-Boys, Barflies, and Kept Men: Men Involved in Sex with Men for Compensation in Prague

Since the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the Czech Republic (epitomized for westerners by Prague) has acquired a reputation for sexual liberalism and has become a major destination for tourists from de...
System Characterization of MAHI Exo-II: A Robotic Exoskeleton for Upper Extremity Rehabilitation

This paper presents the performance characterization of the MAHI Exo-II, an upper extremity exoskeleton for stroke and spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation, as a means to validate its clinical implementation and to provide depth to the literature on the performance characteristics of upper extremity exoskeletons. Individuals with disabilities arising from stroke and SCI need rehabilitation of the elbow, forearm, and wrist to restore the ability to independently perform activities of daily living (ADL). Robotic rehabilitation has been proposed to address the need for high intensity, long duration therapy and has shown promising results for upper limb proximal joints. However, upper limb distal joints have historically not benefitted from the same focus. The MAHI Exo-II, designed to address this shortcoming, has undergone a static and dynamic performance characterization, which shows that it exhibits the requisite qualities for a rehabilitation robot and is comparable to other state-of-the-art designs.
Mutagenesis of a light-regulated psbA intron reveals the importance of efficient splicing for photosynthetic growth

The chioroplast-encoded psbA gene encodes the D1 polypeptide of the photosystem II reaction center, which Is synthesized at high rates in the light. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the psbA gene contains four self-splicing group I introns whose rates of splicing in vivo are increased at least 6-10-fold by light. However, because psbA is an abundant mRNA, and some chloroplast mRNAs appear to be in great excess of what is needed to sustain translation rates, the developmental significance of light-promoted splicing has not been clear. To address this and other questions, potentially destabilizing substitutions were made in several predicted helices of the fourth psbA intron, Cr.psbA4, and their effects on in vitro and in vivo splicing assessed. Two-nucleotide substitutions in P4 and P7 were necessary to substantially reduce splicing of this intron in vivo, although most mutations reduced self-splicing in vitro. The P7-4,5 mutant, whose splicing was completely blocked, showed no photoautotrophic growth and synthesis of a truncated D1 (exons 1-4) polypeptide from the unspliced mRNA. Most informative was the P4'-3,4 mutant, which exhibited a 45% reduction in spliced psbA mRNA, a 28% reduction in synthesis of full-length D1, and an 18% reduction in photoautotrophic growth. These results indicate that psbA mRNA is not In great excess, and that highly efficient splicing of psbA introns, which is afforded by light conditions, is necessary for optimal photosynthetic growth.
Remarks on queue inference from departure data alone and the importance of the queue inference engine

Abstract Recently a generalization of Larson’s Queue Inference Engine (Q.I.E.) for computing conditional expected queue length was proposed in this journal. Although the conditional expectation calculation is correct and of independent interest, it does not represent the queuing inference quantities claimed. We demonstrate this with two examples with identical mean service times where the expectations claimed differ. If customer departure times are included, the examples demonstrate that queue inference cannot be made from departure data alone with unknown service distribution.
Population dynamics under exploitation competition

The fitness function, which relates individual survivorship and fertility to log access to resources, has a substantial effect on the stability of population dynamics. Under exploitation competition, local stability of equilibria depend on the expectation of the slope of this function. If its slope is everywhere less than two, equilibria are always locally stable. If its slope is everywhere greater than two, equilibria are always unstable. Where the fitness function is sigmoid, stability is increased by individual variability. In general, the effect of the fitness function is confounded with that of individual variability, so that the effect of one cannot be predicted without knowledge of the other. This is an important caveat with respect to recent work emphasizing the role of individual variability in increasing the stability of population dynamics.
A Growth Technique to Make Extensive Atomically Flat Silicon Surfaces

We have carried out a series of experiments aimed at producing arrays of mesas on both Si(001) and Si(111) which are free from atomic steps. These are of interest in CMOS technology and for quantum well structures. They also provide interesting substrates for fundamental surface science experiments. In previous work we have created atomically flat regions surrounded by ridges through an evaporation method. The present work ‘inverts’ the previous process by using a pattern of trenches to define the mesas and then depositing Si to grow the atomic steps off the edges. The mesas are created on Si wafers, which are ~1° from the (111) and (001) plane by lithography and reactive ion etching. Step-free mesas were formed on Si(111) but not yet on Si(001). Both the evaporation and this new growth technique rely on step flow to move the steps to the edges of the flat areas. Although the evaporation method is simpler, an advantage of the growth technique is that it can be carried out at lower temperature. The maximum size of mesa that can be made free of atomic steps depends on the combination of temperature and deposition rate. On very large step-free terraces nucleation of islands and concentric arrays of mono-atomic steps are observed; these correspond to the vacancy pits observed with the evaporation method.
An anti-windup scheme for multivariable nonlinear systems

Abstract In this paper, an approach to control synthesis for constrained multivariable nonlinear systems using feedback linearization is described. The synthesis of a multivariable saturation element which preserves the directionality of the input vector and produces control action which upholds constraints within the original coordinate system is discussed. Nominal stability analysis is performed using nonlinear μ-analysis for a restricted region of the state-space. A set of conditions is obtained which defines the region of the state space over which the stability analysis is applicable. The results are applied to both a numerical example and to a multivariable polymerization reactor model.
Iothalamate versus estimated GFR in a Hispanic-dominant pediatric renal transplant population.

Background Accurate knowledge of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is essential to the practice of nephrology. Routine surveillance of GFR is most commonly executed using estimated GFR (eGFR) calculations, most often from serum creatinine measurements. However, cystatin C-based equations have demonstrated earlier sensitivity to decline in renal function. The literature regarding eGFR from cystatin C has few references that include transplant recipients. Additionally, for most of the published eGFR equations, patients of Hispanic ethnicity have not been enrolled in sufficient numbers.
Characterization of 14 tetranucleotide microsatellite loci derived from Pacific herring

Spawning aggregations of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) often exhibit significant interannual variation in allele frequencies of neutral gene markers. We isolated 14 tetranucleotide microsatellites to examine hypothetical processes that may produce this unique genetic signal. We developed and tested primer pairs for each locus and then estimated locus variability in samples (n = 60) from two populations. The number of alleles per locus ranged from five to 49. The expected heterozygosity across loci and populations ranged from 0.20 to 0.96. These microsatellites will be useful for estimating genetic variation in herring on a fine geographical scale.
Economic Expectations and Voting Behavior in United States House and Senate Elections

Past individual-level studies of economic voting (1) have incorrectly operationalized the model they employ by using past-oriented rather than future-oriented questions and (2) have failed to examine the level of economic voting in United States Senate elections. Using the 1978 National Election Study, we show that economic voting exists in Senate but not House elections, presumably due to the differences in electoral context. Even when economic voting occurs, however, there is no guarantee that the public will influence the direction of macroeconomic policy.
Experimental study of super-resolution using a compressive sensing architecture

An experimental investigation of super-resolution imaging from measurements of projections onto a random basis is presented. In particular, a laboratory imaging system was constructed following an architecture that has become familiar from the theory of compressive sensing. The system uses a digital micromirror array located at an intermediate image plane to introduce binary matrices that represent members of a basis set. The system model was developed from experimentally acquired calibration data which characterizes the system output corresponding to each individual mirror in the array. Images are reconstructed at a resolution limited by that of the micromirror array using the split Bregman approach to total-variation regularized optimization. System performance is evaluated qualitatively as a function of the size of the basis set, or equivalently, the number of snapshots applied in the reconstruction.
Familial pars planitis.

Pars planitis is an intraocular inflammatory disorder which usually affects children or young adults and is characterized by vitreous cells and debris (‘snowballs’), exudate, and ‘snowbank’ formation along the pars plana, variable periphlebitis, and cystoid macular edema. Although no inheritance pattern has been defined, familial cases of pars planitis have been reported. This report describes pars planitis in two sisters, one of whom had evidence of demyelinating disease at presentation. The literature on familial pars planitis is reviewed. To the author's knowledge this is the first case of familial pars planitis as the presenting sign of possible demyelinating disease.
Friendship Quality and Social Development

A high-quality friendship is characterized by high levels of prosocial behavior, intimacy, and other positive features, and low levels of conflicts, rivalry, and other negative features. Friendship quality has been assumed to have direct effects on many aspects of children's social development, including their self-esteem and social adjustment. Recent research suggests, however, that friendship quality affects primarily children's success in the social world of peers. Friendship quality could also have indirect effects, by magnifying or diminishing the influence of friends on each other's attitudes and behaviors. Having high-quality friendships may lessen children's tendencies to imitate the behavior of shy and withdrawn friends, but little evidence supports the hypothesis that high-quality friendships magnify friends’ influence.
Maternal immune activation causes age- and region-specific changes in brain cytokines in offspring throughout development.

Maternal infection is a risk factor for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SZ). Indeed, modeling this risk factor in mice through maternal immune activation (MIA) causes ASD- and SZ-like neuropathologies and behaviors in the offspring. Although MIA upregulates pro-inflammatory cytokines in the fetal brain, whether MIA leads to long-lasting changes in brain cytokines during postnatal development remains unknown. Here, we tested this possibility by measuring protein levels of 23 cytokines in the blood and three brain regions from offspring of poly(I:C)- and saline-injected mice at five postnatal ages using multiplex arrays. Most cytokines examined are present in sera and brains throughout development. MIA induces changes in the levels of many cytokines in the brains and sera of offspring in a region- and age-specific manner. These MIA-induced changes follow a few, unexpected and distinct patterns. In frontal and cingulate cortices, several, mostly pro-inflammatory, cytokines are elevated at birth, followed by decreases during periods of synaptogenesis and plasticity, and increases again in the adult. Cytokines are also altered in postnatal hippocampus, but in a pattern distinct from the other regions. The MIA-induced changes in brain cytokines do not correlate with changes in serum cytokines from the same animals. Finally, these MIA-induced cytokine changes are not accompanied by breaches in the blood–brain barrier, immune cell infiltration or increases in microglial density. Together, these data indicate that MIA leads to long-lasting, region-specific changes in brain cytokines in offspring—similar to those reported for ASD and SZ—that may alter CNS development and behavior.
Inflammatory Cytokines Enhance the Interaction of Mannheimia haemolytica Leukotoxin with Bovine Peripheral Blood Neutrophils In Vitro

Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica A1 produces several virulence factors that play an important role in the pathogenesis of bovine pneumonic pasteurellosis. Foremost among these is a leukotoxin (LKT) that specifically kills ruminant leukocytes. Recent evidence suggests that M. haemolytica LKT binding to bovine leukocytes is mediated by the 2-integrin CD11a/CD18 (lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 [LFA-1]), which subsequently induces activation and cytolysis of these cells. Inflammatory cytokines, which are released during viral and bacterial infection, are reported to increase LFA-1 expression and conformational activation. We investigated the effects of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-), and gamma interferon (IFN-) on the interaction of M. haemolytica LKT with bovine peripheral blood neutrophils (PMNs). In this study we demonstrated, by flow cytometry, that bovine PMNs increased their binding to an anti-bovine LFA-1 monoclonal antibody (BAT75A) following in vitro incubation with IL-1, TNF-, or IFN-. Incubation with cytokines also increased CD18 expression, as assessed by real-time PCR and by Western blotting. Increased LFA-1 expression by PMNs exposed to cytokines was associated with increased LKT binding and cytotoxicity. The latter represented, at least in part, enhanced PMN apoptosis, as assessed by propidium iodine staining and caspase-3 activation. The results of this study suggest that inflammatory cytokines may play an important role in enhancing the biological response of bovine PMNs to M. haemolytica LKT. Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica A1 is the primary bacterial agent of bovine pneumonic pasteurellosis (shipping fever), which is characterized by acute lobar fibronecrotizing pneumonia with extensive peripheral blood neutrophil (PMN) infiltration in small airways and alveoli (4, 39, 47). Several virulence factors of M. haemolytica play an important role in
At the crossroads of biomacromolecular research: highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of the field

Due to their complexity and wide-ranging utility, biomacromolecular research is an especially interdisciplinary branch of chemistry. It is my goal that the Biomacromolecules subject area of Chemistry Central Journal will parallel this richness and diversity. In this inaugural commentary, I attempt to set the stage for achieving this by highlighting several areas where biomacromolecular research overlaps more traditional chemistry sub-disciplines. Specifically, it is discussed how Materials Science and Biotechnology, Analytical Chemistry, Cell Biology and Chemical Theory are each integral to modern biomacromolecular research. Investigators with reports in any of these areas, or any other dealing with biomacromolecules, are encouraged to submit their research papers to Chemistry Central Journal.
COMMUNITY BUILDING IN THE CLASSROOM: TEACHING DEMOCRATIC THINKING THROUGH PRACTICING DEMOCRATIC THINKING

Key to teaching democratic thinking is actively engaging in the practice; and this, the article contends, is best facilitated by an experiential learning model where students are actively using, testing, and transforming not only the materials of the course, but also their own theories and experiences. Educators hoping to inspire democratic virtues and actions should also create and foster opportunities for community-building within the classroom by having students take more ownership for the class. This experiential process of learning disrupts the hierarchical theory-to-practice model traditionally implemented, reinforcing the value of an experiential and iterative practice of reflective engagement. In addition, such classes cannot neglect critical reflection and discussion of issues of power and oppression since democratic deliberation is at its core about engaging with others. To the extent that the traditional philosophic model limits the ways in which we come to understand one another’s positionality, we must seek to open valuable spaces for not simply thinking democratically, but also feeling and acting through a democratic spirit. Key Words : democratic deliberation, diversity, dialogue, integration, experiential learning, community.
Going Down to the Crossroads: Neuroendocrinology, Developmental Psychobiology, and Prospects for Research at the Intersection of Neuroscience and Education

The relation of stress hormones and activity in stress response systems to the development of aspects of cognition and behavior important for educational achievement and attainment is examined from the perspective of the developmental psychobiological model. It is proposed that research in neuroendocrinology supports three general conclusions, namely (1) that there is a neuroscientifically definable optimal level of stress arousal in children against which various curricula and teaching and learning activities can be examined; (2) that consideration of the time course of stress arousal indicates that optimal levels of stress arousal are temporally limited and can be matched to specific instructional activities; and (3) that alterations to stress response systems through processes of allostasis and allostatic load, particularly for children facing early psychosocial disadvantage, can impair the flexible regulation of stress response systems needed for effective learning in school.
“History has rendered its verdict upon him”: The Franklin Pierce Statue Controversy

For thirty years after Franklin Pierce's death, the ex-president's reputation remained low in the estimation of historians and the public. Most saw Pierce and his successor James Buchanan as primary culprits in the sectional discord leading to the Civil War. Between 1900 and 1915, however, Pierce's reputation improved, with the sectional healing represented by Blue-Gray reunions on former battlefields like Gettysburg and the election of only the second Democratic president since the war, Woodrow Wilson. This process of healing was particularly difficult in Pierce's home state of New Hampshire. In a classic case of contested memory, the Grand Army of the Republic repeatedly stymied Democratic attempts to raise a statue to the state's only president and criticized Pierce as a traitor and Confederate sympathizer. The Democrats, however, took over the New Hampshire governor's chair in 1913, and the legislature voted to honor Pierce with a statue. In that small early twentieth-century window, Franklin Pierce became a beneficiary of hard-earned sectional reconciliation.
Tunneling multicast traffic through non-multicast-aware networks and encryption devices

Multicast-based applications, such as collaborative tools and video streaming, are being deployed to the field today. Current strategic and deployed military networks are not designed or configured to support multicast traffic. Furthermore, many security devices such as Virtual Private Network (VPN) devices and Motorola's Network Encryption System (NES) do not natively support multicast traffic. For the Joint Expeditionary Force Experiments, we needed an architecture that would enable the flow of multicast traffic through several encryption devices and across a non-multicast-aware wide area network. This was accomplished through the use of Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) tunnels. We developed a solution that allowed dynamic routing of multicast traffic throughout the network. In addition, this solution significantly simplified the configuration of the VPNs and NESs. This paper discusses our dynamically routed, multicast-tunneling architecture and its benefits.
Climate, rain shadow, and human-use influences on fire regimes in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, USA

There have been few fire history studies of eastern Sierra Nevada forests in California, USA, where a steep elevation gradient, rain shadow conditions, and forest stand isolation may produce different fire regimes than those found on the range’s western slope. We investigated historic fire regimes and potential climate influences on four forest types ranging in elevation from 1700 m to 3200 m on the Sierra Nevada’s eastern slope and the White Mountains’ western slope. Sample areas (approximately 15 ha to 45 ha) had mean site fire return intervals ranging from 4.8 yr to 16.9 yr across ten Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi Balf.) sites, and 13.4 yr to 45.7 yr across four high elevation lodgepole (P contorta Douglas ex Louden), foxtail (P. balfouriana Balf.) and bristlecone (P longaeva D.K. Bailey) pine sites. At most sites (13 of 14), >50% of fire events occurred in late or dormant season wood. Twentieth century fire return intervals increased at some sites, while other sites continued to record frequent fire events into the 1950s. Years where two or more sites recorded fire events on two or more trees were correlated with drought conditions forecast by the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) in our sample locations at and north of Mammoth Lakes. The lower Sierra Nevada crest due west of these locations may connect weather patterns with western slope conditions more than at our southern eastside sample sites, which were not significantly correlated with PDSI. Our results suggest eastern Sierra Nevada Jeffrey pine forests have similar seasonality and fire return intervals as some western slope forests, but site fire history can be influenced by stand isolation, historical use, and local rain shadow conditions.
Effect of melt temperature on the final thickness distribution of blow moulded parts

The extrusion blow moulding process is becoming increasingly important in the polymer industry. Parison programming is a crucial component of the extrusion blow moulding process, since it allows for the optimization of resin usage in a given part. However, the inflation of programmed (variable thickness) parisons is very complex and is not a well understood phenomenon. The goal of this work is to present some experimental results demonstrating the effects of melt temperature on the inflation of programmed parisons. The inflation of parisons into a non-axisymmetric motor oil bottle is considered. Four parison thickness profiles are studied. These are (i) low magnitude constant thickness, (ii) high magnitude constant thickness, (iii) one step high to low magnitude thickness and (iv) two step low to high to low magnitude thickness. Three melt temperatures were used; 180, 200 and 220°C. Le moulage par extrusion-souflage est un procede qui prend de plus en plus d'importance dans l'industrie des polymeres. La programmation des paraisons est une composante majeure de ce procede, car elle permet l'optimisation de I'utilisation des resines dans une section donnee. Cependant, le gonflage des paraisons programmees (epaisseur variable) est tres complexe et est un phenomene ma1 compris. L'objectif de ce travail est de presenter des r6suItats experimentaux demontrant les effets de la temperature de fusion sur le gonflage des paraisons programmees. On considere le gonflement des paraisons dans un bidon d'huile e moteur non axisymetrique. Quatre profils d'epais-seur des paraisons sont etudies, a savoir: l'epaisseur constante de faible magnitude; l'epaisseur constante de forte magnitude; un changement d'epaisseur de forte a faible magnitude; un double changement d'epaisseur de faible a forte puis a faible magnitude. Trois temperatures de fusion ont ete utilis6es, soit 180, 200 et 220°C.
Alkylations with Potassium Carbonate in Dimethylformamide

(1977). Alkylations with Potassium Carbonate in Dimethylformamide. Synthetic Communications: Vol. 7, No. 8, pp. 559-568.
Both PIGA and PIGL mutations cause GPI‐a deficient isolates in the Tk6 cell line

Molecular analysis of proaerolysin selected glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor (GPI-a) deficient isolates in the TK6 cell line was performed. Initial studies found that the expected X-linked PIGA mutations were rare among the spontaneous isolates but did increase modestly after ethyl methane sulfate (EMS) treatment (but to only 50% of isolates). To determine the molecular bases of the remaining GPI-a deficient isolates, real-time analysis for all the 25 autosomal GPI-a pathway genes was performed on the isolates without PIGA mutations, determining that PIGL mRNA was absent for many. Further analysis determined these isolates had several different homozygous deletions of the 5' region of PIGL (17p12-p22) extending 5' (telomeric) through NCOR1 and some into the TTC19 gene (total deletion >250,000 bp). It was determined that the TK6 parent had a hemizygous deletion in 17p12-p22 (275,712 bp) extending from PIGL intron 2 into TTC19 intron 7. Second hit deletions in the other allele in the GPI-a deficient isolates led to the detected homozygous deletions. Several of the deletion breakpoints including the original first hit deletion were sequenced. As strong support for TK6 having a deletion, a number of the isolates without PIGA mutations nor homozygous PIGL deletions had point mutations in the PIGL gene. These studies show that the GPI-a mutation studies using TK6 cell line could be a valuable assay detecting point and deletion mutations in two genes simultaneously.
Recursive T-matrix methods for scattering from multiple dielectric and metallic objects

We present an efficient, stable, recursive T-matrix algorithm to calculate the scattered field from a heterogeneous collection of spatially separated objects. The algorithm is based on the use of higher order multipole expansions than those typically employed in recursive T-matrix techniques. The use of these expansions introduces instability in the recursions developed by Chew (1990) and by Wang and Chew (1990), specifically in the case of near-field computations. By modifying the original recursive algorithm to avoid these instabilities, we arrive at a flexible and efficient forward solver appropriate for a variety of scattering calculations. The algorithm can be applied when the objects are dielectric, metallic, or a mixture of both. We verify this method for cases where the scatterers are electrically small (fraction of a wavelength) or relatively large (12/spl lambda/). While developed for near-field calculation, this approach is applicable for far-field problems as well. Finally, we demonstrate that the computational complexity of this approach compares favorably with comparable recursive algorithms.
Citizen Satisfaction Survey Data: A Mode Comparison of the Derived Importance–Performance Approach

The purpose of this article is to provide evidence regarding the comparability of results provided by two survey methods—a random phone survey and a nonrandom online survey—using the derived import...
Performance of MAX family of order-statistic CFAR detectors

The MAX family of constant-false-alarm-rate (CFAR) detectors is introduced as a generalization of the greatest of CFAR (GO-CFAR) or MX mean-level detector (MX-MLD). Members of the MAX family use local estimators based on order statistics and generate both a near-range and a far-range noise-level estimate. Local estimates are always combined through a maximum operation; this insures false-alarm control at clutter edges. At the same time, order-statistic-based estimators result in a high-resolution detector. A complete detection analysis is provided for SWII targets and a reference channel contaminated by large outliers. Results are presented for the MX censored MLD (MX-CMLD) operating in clutter. The MX order statistic detector (MX-OSD) based on only a single-order statistic per window, is analyzed, and curves showing the required threshold, CFAR loss, optimum censoring point, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) loss in the presence of outliers are given. Simulations are used to compare the dynamic responses of various MX-OSD detectors in a clutter and a multiple-target environment. >
Topic Signature Language Models for Ad hoc Retrieval

Semantic smoothing, which incorporates synonym and sense information into the language models, is effective and potentially significant to improve retrieval performance. Previously implemented semantic smoothing models such as the translation model have shown good experimental results. However, these models are unable to incorporate contextual information. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel context-sensitive semantic smoothing method that decomposes a document into a set of weighted context-sensitive topic signatures and then maps those topic signatures into query terms. The language model with such a context- sensitive semantic smoothing is referred to as the topic signature language model. In detail, we implement two types of topic signatures, depending on whether ontology exists in the application domain. One is the ontology-based concept and the other is the multiword phrase. The mapping probabilities from each topic signature to individual terms are estimated through the EM algorithm. Document models based on topic signature mapping are then derived. The new smoothing method is evaluated on the TREC 2004/ 2005 Genomics Track with ontology-based concepts, as well as the TREC Ad Hoc Track (Disks 1, 2, and 3) with multiword phrases. Both experiments show significant improvements over the two-stage language model, as well as the language model with context- insensitive semantic smoothing.
Isoflurane depresses the response of inspiratory hypoglossal motoneurons to serotonin in vivo.

Background: Endogenous serotonin (5-HT) provides important excitatory drive to inspiratory hypoglossal motoneurons (IHMNs). In vitro studies show that activation of postsynaptic 5-HT receptors decreases a leak K + channel conductance and depolarizes hypoglossal motoneurons (HMNs). In contrast, volatile anesthetics increase this leak K + channel conductance, which causes neuronal membrane hyperpolarization and depresses HMN excitability. Clinical studies show upper airway obstruction, indicating HMN depression, even at subanesthetic concentrations. The authors hypothesized that if anesthetic activation of leak K + channels caused neuronal depression in vivo, this effect could be antagonized with serotonin. In this case, the neuronal response to picoejected serotonin would be greater during isoflurane than with no isoflurane. Methods: Studies were performed in decerebrate, vagotomized, paralyzed, and mechanically ventilated dogs during hypercapnic hyperoxia. The authors studied the effect of approximately 0.3 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) isoflurane on the spontaneous discharge frequency patterns of single IHMNs and on the neuronal response to picoejection of 5-HT. Results: Normalized data (mean ± SD, n = 19) confirmed that 0.3 ±0.1 MAC isoflurane markedly reduced the spontaneous peak discharge frequency by 48 ± 19% (P < 0.001) and depressed the slope of the spontaneous discharge patterns. The increase in neuronal frequency in response to 5-HT was reduced by 34 ± 22% by isoflurane (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Subanesthetic concentrations of isoflurane strongly depressed canine IHMNs in vivo. The neuronal response to 5-HT was also depressed by isoflurane, suggesting that anesthetic activation of leak K + channels, which is expected to result in a larger 5-HT response, was not a dominant mechanism in this depression.
Relationships of a Transforming Growth Factor-β2 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism and Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Abundance with Bone and Production Traits in Chickens

Abstract Osteoporosis is a serious problem for the laying hen industry with economic, production, and welfare consequences. Transforming growth factor-β2 (TGFβ2) has been implicated as an important factor in coupling bone resorption and formation in bone remodeling. The current study was designed to determine if TGFβ2 was associated with variation in bone mineralization in chickens, using 2 complementary experimental approaches. First, an intronic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) present in TGFβ2 was investigated in an F2 population to determine its association with bone, growth, and egg traits of importance to the layer and broiler industries. The TGFβ2 SNP was significantly associated (P
The ABC Conjecture Implies Vojta's Height Inequality for Curves☆

Abstract Following Elkies (Internat. Math. Res. Notices7 (1991) 99–109) and Bombieri (Roth's theorem and the abc-conjecture, preprint, ETH Zurich, 1994), we show that the ABC conjecture implies the one-dimensional case of Vojta's height inequality. The main geometric tool is the construction of a Belyǐ function. We take care to make explicit the effectivity of the result: we show that an effective version of the ABC conjecture would imply an effective version of Roth's theorem, as well as giving an (in principle) explicit bound on the height of rational points on an algebraic curve of genus at least two.
Co-occurrence of mood and personality disorders: a report from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study (CLPS).

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of subtypes and particular clinical features of mood disorders to co-occurrence with specific personality disorders. Five hundred and seventy-one subjects recruited for the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study (CLPS) were assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) and the Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders (DIPD-IV). Percent co-occurrence rates for current and lifetime mood disorders with personality disorders were calculated. Logistic regression analyses examined the effects of clinical characteristics of depressive disorders (e.g., age at onset, recurrence, symptom severity, double depression, and atypical features) on personality disorder co-occurrence. In comparison with other DSM-IV personality disorders, avoidant, borderline, and dependent personality disorders (PDs) were most specifically associated with mood disorders, particularly depressive disorders. Severity and recurrence of major depressive disorder and comorbid dysthymic disorder predicted co-occurrence with borderline and to a lesser extent research criteria depressive personality disorders. The results are consistent with the view that a mood disorder with an insidious onset and recurrence, chronicity, and progression in severity leads to a personality disorder diagnosis in young adults.
Automated Geography: What Kind of Geography for What Kind of Society?

(1993). Automated Geography: What Kind of Geography for What Kind of Society? The Professional Geographer: Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 457-460.
The Path of Least Resistance

I began to think of myself as a psychologist of religion when I was a doctoral ­student at the University of Chicago from 1966 to 1970. My location was the Divinity School and, more particularly, in the area called “Religion and Personality.” Prior to my doctoral studies, I had spent the academic year at Yale Divinity School (1965–1966), where I had previously received the Bachelor of Divinity (BD) degree in 1963. I was in the Master of Sacred Theology (STM) degree program. It was during this year that I became interested in the psychology of religion and began searching for doctoral programs in this academic field.
Knowledge-Based Systems

The phrases knowledge-based systems and expert systems are often used in the broad sense of systems whose main components are a set of production rules and an inference engine that fires these rules nondeterministically. However, this definition is much too narrow: it excludes a large number of expert systems that are not rule-based, e.g., systems that use case-based reasoning, blackboards, and neural networks.
Homosexuality's Horizon

In this article, I challenge the conventional left-liberal wisdom about the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health: that Justice Margaret Marshall's opinion for the court in the case - holding that the Massachusetts Constitution protects a constitutional right to marry that same-sex couples, just like cross-sex couples, are now free to enjoy - is and only is a stunning victory for lesbian and gay rights. Without doubting the decision may be just such a victory for some lesbians and gay men, I argue that the downstream consequences of Goodridge are far more varied and variegated than that simple story allows. In particular, from a sex equality perspective, I venture that Goodridge may well be expected to impose various costs on victims and survivors of sexual injury, both same-sexed and cross-sexed, including lesbians and gay men - costs that so-called "pro-gay" accounts of the decision have, so far, to their own detriment, been unable or unwilling to register.
Gelatin Facial Skin Simulator for Cutaneous Reconstruction

Reconstruction of facial defects can be an intimidating endeavor, especially to resident physicians. When local flap reconstruction is preferred, design of the optimal flap can be a difficult choice. Poor selection can lead to unsightly scarring as well as increased morbidity. A low-cost, easy-to-fabricate gelatin prosthetic facial skin simulator is presented to offer training experience in wound closure, local tissue rearrangement, and facial defect reconstruction for resident instruction. In conjunction with a didactic lecture, 10 participants were asked to perform a Z-plasty, bilobed, rhomboid, and paramedian forehead flap, followed by an 18-question survey. While initial impressions are favorable, further validation studies are warranted.
The impact of Hurricane Katrina on urban growth in Louisiana: an analysis using data mining and simulation approaches

Understanding human dynamics after a major disaster is important to the region’s sustainable development. This study utilized land cover data to examine how Hurricane Katrina has affected the urban growth pattern in the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana. The study analyzed land cover changes from non-urban to urban in three metropolitan areas, Baton Rouge, New Orleans-Metairie, and Hammond, for two time periods, pre-Katrina 2001–2006 and post-Katrina 2006–2010. The study first applied a focal filter to extract continuous urban areas from the scattered urban pixels in the original remote sensing images. Statistical analyses were applied to develop initial functions between urban growth probability and several driving factors. A genetic algorithm was then used to calibrate the transition function, and cellular automata simulation based on the transition function was conducted to evaluate future urban growth patterns with and without the impact of Hurricane Katrina. The results show that elevation has become a much more important factor after Hurricane Katrina, and urban growth has shifted to higher elevation regions. The elevation most probable for new urban growth increased from 10.84 to 11.90 meters. Moreover, simulated future urban growth in this region indicates a decentralized trend, with more growth occurring in more distant regions with higher elevation. In the New Orleans metropolitan area, urban growth will continue to spill across Lake Pontchartrain to the satellite towns that are more than 50 minutes away by driving from the city center.
Mertvye Dushi: Fragment, Parable, Promise

Literary history has to some extent spoiled our apprehension of the work we know as Mertvye dushi. Thanks to the author's letters, his friends' memoirs, and the carefully assembled fragments of his projected sequel, we cannot escape the awareness that Nikolai Gogol' left the novel incomplete, unachieved.1 In fact, however, when viewed in the context of other works by Gogol', this "unfinished" novel is marked by a special type of closure and formal unity. The text is modeled on the riddle, particularly the type of riddle known as parable, and the illusion of open-endedness is designed to mock the thirst for an answer awakened by the enigma.