cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tool for Rapid Analysis of Glycopeptide by Permethylation via One-Pot Site Mapping and Glycan Analysis

To overcome the challenges in the analysis of protein glycosylation, we have developed a comprehensive and universal tool through permethylation of glycopeptides and their tandem mass spectrometric analysis. This method has the potential to simplify glycoprotein analysis by integrating glycan sequencing and glycopeptide analysis in a single experiment. Moreover, glycans with unique glycosidic linkages, particularly from prokaryotes, which are resistant to enzymatic or chemical release, could also be detected and analyzed by this methodology. Here we present a strategy for the permethylation of intact glycopeptides, obtained via controlled protease digest, and their characterization by using advanced mass spectrometry. We used bovine RNase B, human transferrin, and bovine fetuin as models to demonstrate the feasibility of the method. Remarkably, the glycan patterns, glycosylation site, and their occupancy by N-glycans are all detected and identified in a single experimental procedure. Acquisition on a high...
What is the natural history of rheumatoid arthritis

Analyses of the natural history of RA, recognizing that all patients receive therapies, indicate the following: 1. Classification criteria for RA identify individuals with (at least) three different types of pathogenetic processes and long-term outcomes; most patients seen in clinical settings have progressive disease. 2. Results of therapies documented to be efficacious in clinical trials are not applicable to the long-term course of RA, in part due to patient selection and the short-time frame of observation in clinical trials; most therapies for RA are not effective in most patients over long periods. 3. Over periods of 10 years or longer, most patients with RA experience radiographic progression and severe functional declines, and work disability is seen in 60% of patients after 10 years of disease. 4. Mortality rates are increased in patients with RA, although RA is generally not listed on death certificates. 5. Individual patients with RA who are at risk for early mortality may be identified through clinical markers, including many involved joints, comorbid cardiovascular disease, and poor functional status according to questionnaires and physical measures. 6. Patient behaviors and lifestyles identified through formal educational level as a marker appear of great importance in the prevalence, morbidity, and mortality of RA.
Kinome chemoproteomics characterization of pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrazoles as potent and selective inhibitors of glycogen synthase kinase 3.

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 has evolutionarily conserved roles in cell signaling and metabolism and is a recognized drug target in neurological pathologies, most prominently bipolar disorder. More recently it has been suggested that GSK3 may be a target for the treatment of trypanosomatid parasite infections, e.g. with T. brucei, due to the lethal phenotype observed in parasite GSK3 short RNAi knockdown experiments. Here we investigated the kinome selectivity of a library of pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrazol inhibitors that were developed against T. brucei GSK3 but that also interact with the human orthologue and other protein kinases. We applied label-free MS-based kinome chemoproteomics profiling with kinobeads to obtain the selectivity profiles of all 39 library members against 217 human protein and lipid kinases. This allowed us to study the structure–activity relationship of the library members as well as the chemical genetic relationships between kinase targets. As a result, we identified a novel and highly selective HsGSK3 inhibitor containing a 2-chloroaniline-substituted squaric acid amide pharmacophore that confers low nanomolar (IC50 = 2.8 nM) and sub-micromolar potency against purified and cellular HsGSK3. The inhibitor will be useful as a new lead for GSK3 inhibitor development and as a chemical genetic probe to study roles of GSK3 in cell signaling.
Peripheral phenothiazine induced suppression of charge separation from the singlet excited zinc phthalocyanine to coordinated C60 in supramolecular donor–acceptor conjugates

Self-assembled donor–acceptor conjugates featuring zinc phthalocyanine carrying four entities of peripheral phenothiazine entities, (PTZ)4ZnPc, axially coordinated to either phenyl imidazole or pyridine functionalized fulleropyrrolidine (C60Im or C60Py) has been newly designed, synthesized and characterized. Due to the direct connectivity of the phenothiazine entities to the ZnPc π-system, efficient charge transfer type interactions suppressing fluorescence of ZnPc in (PTZ)4ZnPc was observed. Axial coordination of C60Im or C60Py to the metal center of (PTZ)4ZnPc served as an electron acceptor in the conjugates. Optical absorption studies revealed stable complex formation wherein the evaluated binding constants K were found to be 3.9 × 104 M-1 for (PTZ)4ZnPc:ImC60 and 3.3 × 104 M-1 for (PTZ)4ZnPc:PyC60 conjugates with 1:1 molecular stoichiometry. Computational studies performed at the HF/[6-311G(d,p) for H, C, and N, and 6-311G(2df) for S and Zn] level revealed stable structures of the conjugates. The eval...
Defensive Reactions to Threatening Health Messages: Alternative Structures and Next Questions

Defensive reactions offer an explanation for why people reject persuasive messages. Surprisingly, little research has focused on the basic question of how they are structured with regard to one another. Understanding this would enable more informed theorizing. Using data from two studies ( N = 849 and N = 311), we tested four possible structures via confirmatory factor analysis, frequency analysis, and latent profile analysis. Results indicated that defensive reactions are best conceptualized as several related concepts that are positively correlated but cannot be reduced to a single phenomenon. Having addressed the structure issue empirically, we conclude with a series of questions that may guide efforts to explicate the concept known as defensive reactions.
Peptide Amphiphile Micelle Vaccine Size and Charge Influence the Host Antibody Response.

Vaccines are one of the best health care advances ever developed, having led to the eradication of smallpox and near eradication of polio and diphtheria. While tremendously successful, traditional vaccines (i.e., whole-killed or live-attenuated) have been associated with some undesirable side effects, including everything from mild injection site inflammation to the autoimmune disease Guillain–Barre syndrome. This has led recent research to focus on developing subunit vaccines (i.e., protein, peptide, or DNA vaccines) since they are inherently safer because they deliver only the bioactive components necessary (i.e., antigens) to produce a protective immune response against the pathogen of interest. However, a major challenge in developing subunit vaccines is overcoming numerous biological barriers to effectively deliver the antigen to the secondary lymphoid organs where adaptive immune responses are orchestrated. Peptide amphiphile micelles are a class of biomaterials that have been shown to possess poten...
Demographic Changes in Rural America and the Implications for Special Education Programming: A Descriptive and Comparative Analysis:

In this descriptive and comparative study, we present results highlighting the complexity and scope of the challenges facing rural districts as they navigate the changing demographics of the studen...
Infant Motor Development in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Synthesis and Meta-analysis

Studies of infant motor development in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased in recent years. This article synthesized this literature through meta-analysis to assess (a) whether infant motor ability differs in ASD relative to neurotypical controls; and (b) whether motor ability and communication are related in infants with ASD. Study 1 aggregated data from 1,953 infants with ASD (ages 3.0-42.0 months), and Study 2 included 890 infants with ASD (age 6.0-42.9 months). Study 1 revealed that infant motor ability differed significantly in ASD compared with neurotypical infants-this difference was robust to variation in measurement and design. Furthermore, this group difference amplified as age increased. Study 2 indicated that within ASD, infant motor ability and communication are related. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
The End of Social Work: The Neoliberalization of Doing Good By Sanford F Schram and Basha Silverman Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research

Various commentators have insightfully noted that neoliberalism is most fundamentally about the marketization of the state. Social Welfare provision has been dramatically affected by this ongoing phenomenon in the U.S. and, to varying degrees, elsewhere in the developed and developing world. Social Work practice, across a number of areas of service provision, has been forced now to adopt a "business model" for delivering its varied forms of assistance. A bottom-line mentality that squeezes quality to achieve efficiencies permeates the world of social work today, as demonstrated by its growing reliance on quality-control procedures, performance management systems, requirements for evidence-based practice, and the varied forms of assessment and program evaluation used largely to determine cost efficiencies, especially by third-party funding sources. Welfare reform program implementation is offered as an in-depth example of these changes associated with the neoliberalization of social work.
Evading The Slingshot

The topic of this essay is “the slingshot”, a short argument that purports to show that sentences2 designate (stand for, refer to) truth values. Versions of this argument have been used by Frege,3 Church,4 Quine5 and Davidson,6 thus it is historically important, even if it immediately strikes one as fishy. The argument turns on two principles, which I call substitution and redistribution. In “Semantic Innocence and Uncompromising Situations”,7 Jon Barwise and I rejected both principles, as part of our attempt to dismantle the slingshot and defend the view that sentences stand for complexes of objects and properties rather than truth values. In his book An Essay on Facts,8 Ken Olson maintains that our treatment turns on the structuralist conception of facts, and that this conception leads either to a block universe of co-implicating facts, or bare particulars. I’ll first review the case against the slingshot, and then consider the issues Olson raises.
ARE THORIUM SCAVENGING AND PARTICLE FLUXES IN THE OCEAN REGULATED BY COAGULATION

Trace metal scavenging in the ocean is classically explained by selective sorptive uptake of the metal by freshly produced particles, taking into account surface site and solute speciation, followed by settling of those particles. Kinetic models of oceanic trace metal scavenging rely heavily on the information gained from the application of Th nuclides as tracers of oceanic scavenging. The scavenging model of Honeyman and Santschi [1] links the formalism of coagulation/sedimentation models with that of the uranium/thorium decay series. It is based on the assumptions that scavenging rate constants reflect sorbed trace element removal from the water column via particle coagulation and sedimentation, and that the loss of particles by sedimentation is balanced by supply of colloidal particles to the settleable particle pool. Such model assumptions are verified here by a comparison of measured and calculated, depth-normalized sedimentation rates and by being able to predict the broad correlation of scavenging rate constants with particle fluxes, as observed by Bruland and coworkers. Our modeling results suggest that a physical step may be rate controlling, even though trace metal scavenging, overall, may still be driven by biological processes.
Role of conserved histidine residues in metalloactivation of the ArsA ATPase.

The ArsA ATPase is the catalytic subunit of a pump that is responsible for resistance to arsenicals and antimonials in Escherichia coli. Arsenite or antimonite allosterically activates the ArsA ATPase activity. ArsA homologues from eubacteria, archaea and eukarya have a signature sequence (DTAPTGHT) that includes a conserved histidine. The ArsA ATPase has two such conserved motifs, one in the NH2-terminal (A1) half and the other in the COOH-terminal (A2) half of the protein. These sequences have been proposed to be signal transduction domains that transmit the information of metal occupancy at the allosteric to the catalytic site to activate ATP hydrolysis. The role of the conserved residues His148 and His453, which reside in the A1 and A2 signal transduction domains respectively, was investigated by mutagenesis to create H148A, H453A or H148A/H453A ArsAs. Each altered protein exhibited a decrease in the Vmax of metalloid-activated ATP hydrolysis, in the order wild type ArsA>H148A>H453A>H148A/H453A. These results suggest that the histidine residues play a role in transmission of the signal between the catalytic and allosteric sites.
Light History and Photostasis

The origins of our work on photostasis can be traced back to 1976, when we began studying retinal light damage in the albino rat. Ten years earlier, Werner Noell’s group (Noell et al., 1966) had shown that photoreceptors die if they “absorb too many photons.” After some delay, we began to study this phenomenon. My interest was twofold: First, why should these cells die from absorbing too much light? Noell was studying rats, and rods predominate in their retinas, so death of the rods was the main topic of interest. Rods function at night but were being killed by daytime light exposures, even though they were not signalling vision at the time. Was this a clue to the damage mechanism? Second, if the rods were dying because they were absorbing too many photons, how many is too many? Because the second question seemed the more tractable, and because I knew how to count photons, my group slowly edged its way into studies of light damage, hoping to arrive someday at an answer to the second question.
Mutual Information Better Quantifies Brain Network Architecture in Children with Epilepsy.

Purpose. Metrics of the brain network architecture derived from resting-state fMRI have been shown to provide physiologically meaningful markers of IQ in children with epilepsy. However, traditional measures of functional connectivity (FC), specifically the Pearson correlation, assume a dominant linear relationship between BOLD time courses; this assumption may not be valid. Mutual information is an alternative measure of FC which has shown promise in the study of complex networks due to its ability to flexibly capture association of diverse forms. We aimed to compare network metrics derived from mutual information-defined FC to those derived from traditional correlation in terms of their capacity to predict patient-level IQ. Materials and Methods. Patients were retrospectively identified with the following: (1) focal epilepsy; (2) resting-state fMRI; and (3) full-scale IQ by a neuropsychologist. Brain network nodes were defined by anatomic parcellation. Parcellation was performed at the size threshold of 350 mm2, resulting in networks containing 780 nodes. Whole-brain, weighted graphs were then constructed according to the pairwise connectivity between nodes. In the traditional condition, edges (connections) between each pair of nodes were defined as the absolute value of the Pearson correlation coefficient between their BOLD time courses. In the mutual information condition, edges were defined as the mutual information between time courses. The following metrics were then calculated for each weighted graph: clustering coefficient, modularity, characteristic path length, and global efficiency. A machine learning algorithm was used to predict the IQ of each individual based on their network metrics. Prediction accuracy was assessed as the fractional variation explained for each condition. Results. Twenty-four patients met the inclusion criteria (age: 8–18 years). All brain networks demonstrated expected small-world properties. Network metrics derived from mutual information-defined FC significantly outperformed the use of the Pearson correlation. Specifically, fractional variation explained was 49% (95% CI: 46%, 51%) for the mutual information method; the Pearson correlation demonstrated a variation of 17% (95% CI: 13%, 19%). Conclusion. Mutual information-defined functional connectivity captures physiologically relevant features of the brain network better than correlation. Clinical Relevance. Optimizing the capacity to predict cognitive phenotypes at the patient level is a necessary step toward the clinical utility of network-based biomarkers.
Post-Deposition Recrystallization of Chloride Treated Cu(In x Ga (1-x)) Se 2 Thin-Film Solar Cells

Conditions promoting the recrystallization of CuIn (1-x) Se 2 (CIGS) deposited by co-evaporation at 350°C were studied. Cu-rich and Cu-poor CIGS samples were annealed at 400°C and 550°C for 1 hour in the presence of alkali halide, In 3 Cl,Cu 2 Cl, SeCl 4 , and Se vapors. Increases in grain size of greater than 10x were observed with In 3 Cl with Se, Cu 2 Cl with and without Se, and SeCl 4 at 550°C. Smaller magnitude grain size increases resulted at 400°C. Film composition was influenced by the vapors present with In 3 Cl enhancing the In content and Cu 2 {Cl enhancing the Cu content. Based on XRD analysis, the In 3 Cl+Se treatment best preserves the CIGS structure while resulting in a large amount of grain growth.
Stiff Person Syndrome and Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: a Case of the Chicken or the Egg?

Anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (anti-GAD) antibodies are linked with both autoimmune diabetes and the rare neurological disorder stiff person syndrome (SPS). SPS is an uncommon autoimmune-mediated condition characterized by painful episodic spasms and progressive muscle rigidity. We present the case of a 23-year-old non-diabetic, insulin-naive woman with known SPS who was hospitalized for SPS-related symptomatology. The patient quickly developed type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) with unexpectedly large insulin requirements. To our knowledge, there are no other reports describing rapid T1DM development during an acute hospitalization for SPS and fewer than 5 case reports describing the association of SPS with extreme insulin resistance. Our case highlights the key clinical features, pathology, and pathogenesis of both SPS and T1DM and explores the relationship between the two disease processes.
Pain perception during transabdominal chorionic villus sampling: a randomized trial comparing topical ethyl chloride anesthetic spray and lidocaine injection.

Background: Chorionic villus sampling is an important invasive procedure used for early antenatal genetic testing that can be associated with anxiety and fear of pain. Pain analgesia prior to chori...
Ion transport in free and supported nitrobenzene aliquat nitrate liquid membrane ion-selective electrodes

Abstract Limits of detection, as a function of ion exchanger loading, for tetrapentylammonium, tetrahexylammonium, tetraheptylammonium, and Aliquat nitrate in nitrobenzene, have been determined. The first three show rapid extraction equilibria and detection limits obey the Kamo, Hazemoto, and Kobatake extension of Buck's theory. More dilute loading gives improved (lower) detection limits. Aliquat nitrate gives evidence of kinetic control and reversal of detection limit dependence on loading. The detection limit may be determined by impurity anions at sub-micromolar concentrations. p]Selectivity coefficients for chloride ion, while concentration-dependent, improve with Aliquat loading. This result agrees with predictions in Part I, of this series, based on the observed decreases in dielectric constant with increased loading. The smaller ion is favored in the higher dielectric constant (more dilute) membranes.
Could the Drug Tafenoquine Revolutionize Treatment of Babesia microti Infection

Background Tafenoquine (TQ) was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for prophylaxis of malaria and, in addition, for eradication of the hepatic phase of the relevant Plasmodium species. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of TQ for treatment of Babesia microti infection in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). Methods SCID mice were infected with 1.1-1.5 × 108 B. microti-infected red blood cells by intraperitoneal injection. On day 3 or 4 postinfection, when parasitemia levels typically exceeded 10%, mice were treated with TQ vs vehicle alone, both administered by oral gavage. Results A single dose of TQ completely eliminated detectable parasites, with a >90% reduction in the level of parasitemia within just 4 days. Before elimination, a conspicuous phenotypic change in the parasite was observed. Although parasitologic cure was not achieved, there was no evidence for the development of drug resistance. Conclusions This study suggests that TQ may be a highly useful drug to treat B. microti infection in patients. If further animal studies establish that a marked reduction in B. microti parasitemia can be reliably achieved with peak blood levels of TQ known to be well tolerated in humans, a clinical trial in patients should be considered.
Adolescent Fears: Implications for Health Education

(1987). Adolescent Fears: Implications for Health Education. Health Education: Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 34-38.
Towards Designing A Secure Plausibly Deniable System for Mobile Devices against Multi-snapshot Adversaries -- A Preliminary Design

Mobile computing devices have been used broadly to store, manage and process sensitive or even mission critical data. To protect confidentiality of data stored in mobile devices, major mobile operating systems use full disk encryption, which relies on traditional encryption mechanisms and requires that decryption keys will not be disclosed. This however, is not necessarily true, since an active attacker may coerce victims for decryption keys. Plausibly deniable encryption (PDE) can defend against such a coercive attacker by disguising the true secret key with a decoy key. Leveraging concept of PDE, various deniable storage systems have been built for both PC and mobile platforms. However, a secure PDE system for mobile devices is still missing which can be compatible with mainstream mobile devices and, meanwhile, remains secure when facing a strong multi-snapshot adversary. In this work, we propose a preliminary PDE system design for mobile computing devices using flash memory as underlying storage medium. Ours is the first secure PDE system for mobile devices which has the following new design features: 1) it is compatible with mainstream mobile devices due to its integration of PDE into flash translation layer (FTL), the most popular form of flash memory being used by modern mobile devices; and 2) it can defend against the multi-snapshot adversary by denying hidden writes (over the flash memory) caused by hidden sensitive data using random dummy writes.
Development of an Observational Parental Scaffolding Measure for Youth with Spina Bifida.

Objective To examine the reliability and validity of a new observational measure of parental scaffolding, as well as the impact of parental scaffolding on academic and social outcomes among youth with spina bifida (SB). Methods As part of a larger study, 137 families of youth with SB participated in family interaction tasks and self-report questionnaires at the baseline assessment. Teachers also reported on youth's academic independence and competence, as well as social skills. Guided by previous research and theoretical formulations, a rational approach to measure development was employed whereby maternal and paternal scaffolding composites were created using the Family Interaction Macro-coding System (Holmbeck, Zebracki, Johnson, Belvedere, & Hommeyer (2007). Parent-child interaction macro-coding manual. Unpublished coding system. Chicago: Loyola University Chicago). Results The scaffolding measure demonstrated acceptable interrater and scale reliabilities. Additionally, both the maternal and paternal scaffolding composites were significantly associated with scores from self-report questionnaires of parenting behaviors in the expected directions. Maternal scaffolding was positively associated with IQ, academic competence, academic independence, and social self-control in youth with SB, whereas paternal scaffolding was positively associated with social cooperation and social self-control. Differences in scaffolding emerged between mothers and fathers, as well as across demographic variables. Conclusion Initial findings support the use of the scaffolding measure. Future research should continue to examine the utility of this scaffolding measure in families of youth with SB.
A comparison of parametric propensity score‐based methods for causal inference with multiple treatments and a binary outcome

We consider comparative effectiveness research (CER) from observational data with two or more treatments. In observational studies, the estimation of causal effects is prone to bias due to confounders related to both treatment and outcome. Methods based on propensity scores are routinely used to correct for such confounding biases. A large fraction of propensity score methods in the current literature consider the case of either two treatments or continuous outcome. There has been extensive literature with multiple treatment and binary outcome, but interest often lies in the intersection, for which the literature is still evolving. The contribution of this article is to focus on this intersection and compare across methods, some of which are fairly recent. We describe propensity-based methods when more than two treatments are being compared, and the outcome is binary. We assess the relative performance of these methods through a set of simulation studies. The methods are applied to assess the effect of four common therapies for castration-resistant advanced-stage prostate cancer. The data consist of medical and pharmacy claims from a large national private health insurance network, with the adverse outcome being admission to the emergency room within a short time window of treatment initiation.
DeepM&Mnet: Inferring the electroconvection multiphysics fields based on operator approximation by neural networks

Abstract Electroconvection is a multiphysics problem involving coupling of the flow field with the electric field as well as the cation and anion concentration fields. Here, we use electroconvection as a benchmark problem to put forward a new data assimilation framework, the DeepM&Mnet, for simulating multiphysics and multiscale problems at speeds much faster than standard numerical methods using pre-trained neural networks. We first pre-train DeepONets that can predict independently each field, given general inputs from the rest of the fields of the coupled system. DeepONets can approximate nonlinear operators and are composed of two sub-networks, a branch net for the input fields and a trunk net for the locations of the output field. DeepONets, which are extremely fast, are used as building blocks in the DeepM&Mnet and form constraints for the multiphysics solution along with some sparse available measurements of any of the fields. We demonstrate the new methodology and document the accuracy of each individual DeepONet, and subsequently we present two different DeepM&Mnet architectures that infer accurately and efficiently 2D electroconvection fields for unseen electric potentials. The DeepM&Mnet framework is general and can be applied for building any complex multiphysics and multiscale models based on very few measurements using pre-trained DeepONets in a “plug-and-play” mode.
A "double fistula" with Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease

We present a patient with a history of cavitary mycobacterial lung infection and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who developed two connected fistulas post thoracentesis, an alveolo-pleural and a pleuro-cutaneous fistula, leading to continuous air leak from a stoma on his back.
Rethinking Research Protections for Tribal Communities.

The article “Extending Research Protections to Tribal Communities” (Saunkeah et al. 2021) examines whether it is appropriate to extend the Belmont Report’s ethical principles beyond the individual ...
Traumatic injury of the internal mammary artery: embolization versus surgical and nonoperative management.

The purpose of the study was to compare the outcomes, complications, and effectiveness of embolization versus surgical and nonoperative management in patients with injury to the internal mammary artery. Eighteen cases of angiographically proven internal mammary artery injury were identified by a retrospective review. Patient age range was 17–71 years (mean 34 years). Causes of vascular injury were equally divided (9 each) between penetrating and blunt trauma. Type of trauma, associated injury, plain film findings, treatment complications (immediate and delayed), and overall outcomes were assessed. Results of embolization versus surgical and nonoperative management were compared. Angiographic findings included occlusion, active hemorrhage, and pseudoaneurysm of the internal mammary artery. Of the 18 patients studied, 12 underwent embolization; 2 underwent surgical ligation, and 4 were managed by nonoperative observation. No patient died as a direct result of vascular injury; one died of renal failure unrelated to chest trauma and one other died of myocardial contusion. One patient who underwent embolization had delayed bleeding and two patients with conservative management developed a delayed hemothorax. This small series demonstrates that embolotherapy offers an effective, efficient, and safe alternative to conventional surgical management of internal mammary artery injuries.
Characterization of Labeled Residues from 5-Diazouracil-2-14C Incorporated into Ribonucleic Acids of Filamentous Escherichia coli

E. coli B, filamented with 5-diazouracil (DZU)-2-(14)C, yielded ribonucleic acid (RNA)-(DZU-2-(14)C) which was converted by pancreatic ribonuclease to (14)C-mono-and oligo-nucleotides. The mixed (14)C-mononucleotides isolated by diethylaminoethyl-cellulose fractionation were identified as cytidylic, uridylic, and hydroxyuridylic acids, by using a combination of paper chromatography and treatment with alkaline phosphatase and cytidine deaminase. Rifampin blocked incorporation of DZU-2-(14)C under conditions which inhibit RNA synthesis. Division inhibition by DZU-2-(14)C and the incorporation into Escherichia coli B were retarded by uracil but not by other RNA bases. In a pyrimidine-requiring E. coli, DZU substituted for uracil or cytosine to an extent limited by toxic effects. Cytosine and uracil retarded these effects and retarded the incorporation of DZU-2-(14)C into the pyrimidineless strain. A small proportion of DZU-2-(14)C was converted by the latter strain into hydroxyuridylic acid, but the bulk of the incorporated label was in cytidylic and uridylic acid, as in the wild strain.
Novel piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composite transducers

The design, processing conditions and electromechanical characterization of novel piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composites with 2-2 and 3-3 connectivity is presented. The ceramic structures made of PZT were prepared by Layered Manufacturing, namely by Fused Deposition of Ceramics (FDC) process. The ceramic phase in the form of fibers or sheets was oriented at different orientation angles /spl theta/ with respect to the x/sub 3/ axis of the sample, which varied between 0/spl deg/ and 75/spl deg/, in 15/spl deg/ increments. The sintered structures were placed in Spurr Epoxy polymer and diced in 2mm thickness. The electromechanical and elastic properties were investigated as a function of orientation angle /spl theta/. The longitudinal piezoelectric charge coefficient showed a decrease in the property as the /spl theta/ increases. It was found that as the orientation angle /spl theta/ was increased, the transverse piezoelectric charge coefficient d/sub 3l/ changed its sign from a negative to a positive value at /spl theta/ = 37.5/spl deg/ reaching a maximum value at 45/spl deg/ for both types of composites. Due to the contribution of a positive d/sub 3l/ coefficient, a significant increase in the hydrostatic charge coefficient was observed.
The EU, the IMF, and the Representative Turn: Addressing the Challenge of Legitimacy

: Over time, international organizations have adopted different strategies to redress their legitimacy deficits. Among them, two strategies stand out: expanding participation of relevant stakeholders and improving output. By analyzing the application of these strategies in the European Union (EU) and in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we argue that these efforts at legitimization have not been satisfying because they have been implemented as supplements, rather than complements, of representation. Interestingly, then, the most recent efforts at legitimizing the two international bodies have started emphasizing the issue of representation. We illustrate our argument by reviewing and comparing the legitimacy-enhancing strategies that have been adopted in the EU and the IMF.
Detection and study by fluorescence spectrometry of stereospecificity in mushroom tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidations. Proposal of a copper-containing reaction rate control site.

Abstract Stereospecific reactions were detected in a fluorescence spectrometric examination of the catalytic oxidation of the optical isomers of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa) by mushroom tyrosinase. The stereospecificity, which is preferential rather than absolute, can be detected by following either an initial step of the oxidative sequence or a later fluorescence formation step. Compared with catechol and 2-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl)ethylamine (dopamine) on the basis of the initial oxidation step, the velocities of their oxidation decrease in the following order: catechol g l(-)-dopa g dopamine g d(+)-dopa g l(+)-adrenaline g d(-)-adrenaline g l(+)-noradrenaline g d(-)-noradrenaline. The velocities of formation of fluorescent intermediates produced from adrenaline and noradrenaline decrease in the following order: l(+)-adrenaline g d(-)-adrenaline g l(+)-noradrenaline g d(-)-noradrenaline. l(-)-Dopa was shown to have a more pronounced effect than d(+)-dopa as an activator both of the tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidative cyclization of adrenaline and of the fluorescence formation step. Approximate steady state oxygen Michaelis constants (Km (O2)), ascertained during the oxidation of the optical isomers of adrenaline, were found to be different for each isomer, the Km (O2) for the d(-) isomer being almost 2 times higher than that for the l(+) isomer. The observed effects of the side chain substituents on the oxidation velocities suggest that tyrosinase contains a stereospecific reaction rate control site. It is proposed that the side chains bind to the control site through chelation with copper and function as reaction rate modulators.
The Global Significance Of Locus Of Control In Ethical Decision Making: A Multi-Country Examination Of University Students

Locus of control (LOC) is a personality variable shown to possess potential explanatory power in the study of ethical decision making. There have been, however, diverse results reported in the literature. Whenever differences on this variable are indicated by the research, individuals with an Internal LOC report the more ethical responses. This study extends the examination of the global relevance of the LOC variable to ethical decision making of university students in thirteen universities from eight countries. Using an instrument designed to elicit responses to questionable academic behaviors, this research analyzes ethical responses of university students (n=2,420) to look for differences based on the LOC variable. The behaviors examined are of a collaborative or collectivistic nature, and the students were asked to respond to how unethical they believe the academic behaviors to be. Results indicate considerable support for the global significance of LOC differences in the ethical responses of the students.
A Legal Basis for the Firm

Fifty years after the publication of Ronald Coase's seminal deliberations on the subject, economists have yet to reach a consensus on the nature of the firm. While many continue to regard the firm as a distinct institution, usually ascribing to it some superior control, information, or adaptive properties, others reject the notion that any unique governance advantages accrue to integration, noting that neither human nature nor technology or information are altered by the purely nominal act of "internalization." For the latter, the word firm is merely descriptive, a collective noun denoting a particular cluster of otherwise ordinary contractual relationships. The purpose of this article is not to offer another theory of vertical integration but rather to explore in more depth the logically antecedent question of whether it even makes sense to talk about the firm as a distinct organizational form. Specifically, is there a basis for associating special properties with internal organization, or is the designation firm really just descriptive of a set of commonly observed but otherwise unexceptional contractual relationships? After briefly reviewing key elements of the controversy, I argue that the answer to this question lies in an examination of the broader legal and po-
Vitrectomy and intravitreal antiviral drug therapy in acute retinal necrosis syndrome. Report of two cases.

• Two patients with acute retinal necrosis were treated with vitrectomy, intravitreal infusion of acyclovir, and prophylactic scleral buckling procedures. Both patients have had an uneventful postoperative course and a recovery of visual acuity; follow-up has been at five and 14 months. There has been no sign of toxicity from the intravitreally administered acyclovir by electroretinographic or clinical criteria.
An object-oriented approach to database system implementation

This paper examines object-oriented programming as an implementation technique for database systems. The object-oriented approach encapsulates the representations of database entities and relationships with the procedures that manipulate them. To achieve this, we first define abstractions of the modeling constructs of the data model that describe their common properties and behavior. Then we represent the entity types and relationship types in the conceptual schema and the internal schema by objects that are instances of these abstractions. The generic procedures (data manipulation routines) that comprise the user interface can now be implemented as calls to the procedures associated with these objects.A generic procedure model of database implementation techniques is presented and discussed. Several current database system implementation techniques are illustrated as examples of this model, followed by a critical analysis of our implementation technique based on the use of objects. We demonstrate that the object-oriented approach has advantages of data independence, run-time efficiency due to eliminating access to system descriptors, and support for low-level views.
WE-E-18A-10: Comparison of Patient Dose and Vessel Visibility Between Antiscatter Grid Removal and Lower Angiographic Radiation Dose Settings for Pediatric Imaging: A Preclinical Investigation.

Purpose: To define an alternative to antiscatter grid (ASG) removal in angiographic systems which achieves similar patient dose reduction as ASG removal without degrading image quality during pediatric imaging. Methods: This study was approved by the local institution animal care and use committee (IACUC). Six different digital subtraction angiography settings were evaluated that altered the mAs, (100, 70, 50, 35, 25, 17.5% of reference mAs) with and without ASG. Three pigs of 5, 15, and 20 kg (9, 15, and 17 cm abdominal thickness; smaller than a newborn, average 3 yr old, and average 10 year old human abdomen respectively) were imaged using the six dose settings with and without ASG. Image quality was defined as the order of vessel branch that is visible relative to the injected vessel. Five interventional radiologists evaluated all images. Image quality and patient dose were statistically compared using analysis of variance and receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis to define the preferred dose level and use of ASG for a minimum visibility of 2nd or 3rd order branches of vessel visibility. Results: ASG grid removal reduces dose by 26% with reduced image quality. Only with the ASG present can 3rd order branches be visualized; 100%more » mAs is required for 9 cm pig while 70% mAs is adequate for the larger pigs. 2nd order branches can be visualized with ASG at 17.5% mAs for all three pig sizes. Without the ASG, 50%, 35% and 35% mAs is required for smallest to largest pig. Conclusion: Removing ASG reduces patient dose and image quality. Image quality can be improved with the ASG present while further reducing patient dose if an optimized radiographic technique is used. Rami Nachabe is an employee of Philips Health Care; Keith Strauss is a paid consultant of Philips Health Care.« less
Experience of stigma by families with mentally ill members

Background: More than 4 million American families live with severely mentally ill members. The cost is substantial. Consequences of stigma produce a component of that cost. Objective: The study's purposes were to examine the experience of stigma from a family member's perspective, to analyze stigma types and consequences, and to search for management strategies. Study Design: This qualitative study was based on a framework of symbolic interaction and dramaturgical interviewing. Twenty-six respondents, all with mentally ill relatives, participated in a 112- to 2-hour semi-structured interview. Results: Stigma was experienced as part of a sequential process and occurred in private and public life domains including internalized, family centered, direct personalized, and indirect institutionalized types. Although a decrease in direct, public, personalized stigma was reported, institution stigma was viewed as highly problematic. Successful management and self-disclosure techniques were noted. Conclusion: Although types of stigma remain problematic, successful management strategies are possible. (J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc [2002]. 8, 76-83.)
Personalized Driver/Vehicle Lane Change Models for ADAS

Lane changes are stressful maneuvers for drivers, particularly during high-speed traffic flows. Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADASs) aim to assist drivers during lane change maneuvers. A system that is developed for an average driver or all drivers will have to be conservative for safety reasons to cover all driver/vehicle types. Such a conservative system may not be acceptable to aggressive drivers and could be perceived as too aggressive by the more passive drivers. An ADAS that takes into account the dynamics and characteristics of each individual vehicle/driver system during lane change maneuvers will be more effective and more acceptable to drivers without sacrificing safety. In this paper, we develop a methodology that learns the characteristics of an individual driver/vehicle response before and during lane changes and under different driving environments. These characteristics are captured by a set of models whose parameters are adjusted online to fit the individual vehicle/driver response during lane changes. We develop a two-layer model to describe the maneuver kinematics. The lower layer describes lane change as a kinematic model. The higher layer model establishes the kinematic model parameter values for the particular driver and represents their dependence on the configuration of the surrounding vehicles. The proposed modeling framework can be used as a kernel component of ADAS to provide more personalized recommendations to the driver, increasing the potential for more widespread acceptance and use of ADAS. We evaluated the proposed methodology using an actual vehicle and three different drivers. We demonstrated that the method is effective in modeling individual driver/vehicle responses during lane change by showing consistency of matching between the model outputs and raw data.
The coupling-constitution fallacy revisited

The hypothesis of extended cognition maintains that cognitive processes sometimes span the brain, body, and world. One of the most prominent types of arguments for this hypothesis begins with observations of the role of certain sorts of bodily and environmental influences on cognitive processes, then concludes that these bodily and environmental influences are themselves cognitive processes. This paper will argue that, while it is widely appreciated that the simplest versions of these ''coupling arguments'' are fallacious, the advocates of extended cognition still seem to underestimate how prevalent even the simplest forms are in the literature, why they are so pervasive, and how these fallacious arguments might be avoided by greater attention to a plausible theory of what distinguishes cognitive processes from non-cognitive processes.
Computational Modeling of Aerosol Deposition Characteristics in Cyclic Bifurcating Tube Flow

An accurate model of the human respiratory system allows health scientists to gain insight into the interactions between particulate matter (PM) and the exposed surfaces of the lung airways. Respiratory dose simulations and modeling are frequently used for evaluating health effects of inhaled toxic substances [1–4] and for analyzing the risk potentials of inhaled toxic or harmful PM such as vehicle emissions [4,5]. Pharmaceutical companies and pulmonologists find it useful in evaluating efficacy of inhaled medicinal aerosols and devising new patient treatment regimen [6–8], especially in vulnerable population groups such as children, industrial workers, and the elderly [10]. Recently, the respiratory system has seen increased attention as a possible venue for drug delivery to fight diseases such as AIDS, diabetes, and various cancers, among others. Computational fluid dynamics modeling and simulation continues to be an important tool for understanding of delivery of pharmaceutical aerosols to the lung airways and thereby improving treatment of airway disease, particularly, asthma with bronchodilators and corticosteroids inhalers [11,12].Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Direct determination of the ionization energy of histidine with VUV synchrotron radiation

Abstract Intact molecules of histidine are generated in the gas phase using impaction of nanoparticles on a heater. The direct determination of the ionization energy (IE) of histidine (155 m / z ) is performed using single photon ionization with tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) synchrotron radiation and is reported to be 8.2(±0.1) eV. Ab initio calculations are performed at the B3LYP/6-311G (UB3LYP/6-311G) level of theory generating vertical and adiabatic ionization energies and possible fragmentation mechanisms. The theoretical adiabatic ionization energies derived for two lying conformers of histidine agree very well with the experimental result. Thermal dissociation at the heater gives rise to fragments, which are subsequently photoionized generating m / z 82 and 111, while m / z 110 is formed by dissociative photoionization of the histidine cation. Appearance energies of fragment ions at m / z 82, 110 and 111 are 8.5(±0.1), 8.5(±0.1) and 8.4(±0.1) eV, respectively, at a heater temperature of 373 K. The H-atom dissociation energy of protonated histidine is derived to be 4.8(±0.1) eV using thermodynamic arguments.