cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthesis and structure of a water-soluble hexanuclear silver(I) nicotinate cluster comprised of a "cyclohexane-chair"-type of framework, showing effective antibacterial and antifungal activities: use of "sparse matrix" techniques for growing crystals of water-soluble inorganic complexes.

The synthesis of a water-soluble anionic silver 2-mercaptonicotinate complex having effective antibacterial and antifungal properties is described. Its structure has been confirmed to be a hexameric cluster by an X-ray diffraction analysis of a mixed Na+/Tris+ salt (Tris+ = tris(hydroxymethyl)methylammonium cation). The [Ag(mna)]66- cluster has a Ag6S6 core and an overall shape of twisted hexagonal cylinder with six sulfur atoms and six silver atoms alternating on a puckered drum-like surface. Each Ag atom is trigonally coordinated by one N and two S ligands. The overall [Ag(mna)]66-·4Na+·2[(HOCH2)3CNH3]+·10H2O complex has a layered appearance in the crystal packing diagram, with a [Ag(mna)]6- cluster layer alternating with a solvent layer consisting of sodium atoms, Tris buffer cations, and water molecules. The structure is almost identical to that of a neutral [Ag(Hmna)]6 complex reported earlier. The neutral and charged complexes are both known to possess antimicrobial activities, and some biological p...
Hypertext Links to Learning: Roadblocks and Obstacles along the Information Super Highway

Educational research has reported a multitude of goals for academic institutions of higher education. Specific academic goals focus in various directions. A common theme permeates throughout missio...
Determination of Auger sensitivity factors for Al-rich quasicrystals

Abstract We discuss and compare approaches to using Auger data for semi-quantitative determination of surface compositions of Al-based quasicrystals. We have examined two quasicrystalline phases: icosahedral Al–Cu–Fe and Al–Pd–Mn. We find that sensitivity factors obtained from pure elemental standards lead to underestimation of concentrations by as much as a factor of 2.5 for the minor constituents, Fe and Mn, and to overestimation by as much as a factor of 1.2 for the major constituent, Al. Surprisingly, calibration with a crystalline phase close in composition to the quasicrystal does not necessarily lead to more accurate results. Auger analyses of fractured surfaces, which are then compared to bulk analyses, is the best option for sensitivity factor calibration. Even without absolute calibration of sensitivity factors, however, surface analysis is extremely useful for detection of secondary phases, and is superior to common bulk analysis methods.
Effect of harvesting methods, growth conditions and growth phase on diacylglycerol levels in cultured human adherent cells

The cellular mass of sn-1,2-diacylglycerols, which are intracellular second messengers which activate protein kinase C, were quantitatively determined with an enzymatic assay. The method employed to harvest cultured human skin fibroblasts or human epidermal A431 cells prior to extraction of lipid into chloroform/methanol affected diacylglycerol (DAG) levels. Scraping or trypsinization significantly increased DAG levels. A method was devised to allow reliable and reproducible DAG measurements from adherent cells. The addition of methanol prior to scraping was shown to stop cellular metabolism and to permit accurate quantitation. Importantly, this solvent was compatible with cultures grown on plastic. Using this method, growth conditions which could affect DAG levels were investigated. Changes in the osmolality of the culture medium did not affect the DAG levels of A431 cells; exposure of A431 cells to acidic pH or elevated temperature lowered DAG levels. In contrast to fibroblasts, the total DAG levels of A431 cells continued to increase during serum deprivation. The highest DAG levels, normalized to phospholipids, were observed during the exponential growth phase. This ratio dropped when the cultures reached confluency. These experiments also demonstrated that A431 cells possess higher DAG levels than do normal fibroblasts. The function of DAG in cellular regulation is discussed.
Crowdsourcing science: organizing virtual participation in knowledge production

Citizen science is a form of research collaboration that involves the public in scientific research to address real-world problems. Virtual citizen science projects, entirely mediated by information and communication technologies (ICTs), are often considered a form of crowdsourcing applied to science. The use of ICTs to support citizen science has already yielded significant impacts on the scale and scope of participation and research, but there is little guidance to help projects choose and implement appropriate technologies to support research and participation goals. This dissertation study employs a comparative case study methodology to examine how virtuality and technology shape processes of organizing and participation in citizen science, and how these processes influence scientific outcomes. The goal of the study is to conceptualize virtual participation by examining the relationship between ICT and practice in order to inform design and management of cyberinfrastructure for citizen science.
Vanadate inhibits vacuolar H+-ATPase-mediated proton transport in chicken kidney microsomes by an ADP-dependent mechanism

Recent reports indicate that vacuolar-type proton ATPases from chicken osteoclasts (Chatterjee et al. (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89, 6257–6261), yeast vacuoles and chromaffin granules (Beltran and Nelson (1992) Acta Physiol. Scand. Suppl. 607, 41–47) can be inhibited by vanadate, albeit at a concentration much higher than that required to inhibit P-type ATPases. We have characterized the mechanism by which vanadate inhibits vacuolar-type ATPase-mediated proton transport by chicken kidney microsomes. The initial rate of proton transport is somewhat less sensitive to vanadate than the total acidification, with IC50 values of 1.58 mM and 0.78 mM vanadate respectively. The inhibition of both the initial rate and total acidification is noncompetitive with respect to ATP. The inhibition is abolished when ADP is removed by an ATP-regenerating system, and the addition of exogenous ADP increases the vanadate inhibition of proton transport in a synergistic manner, thus demonstrating that inhibition by vanadate is dependent on the presence of ADP and explaining the lower effect of vanadate on the initial rate of acidification. Phosphate protects proton transport activity from inhibition by vanadate. These effects of ADP and phosphate suggest that inhibition by vanadate may involve the formation of a complex with ADP at a nucleotide binding site, possibly at the catalytic site of the enzyme.
On the Equilibrium between Radiation and Matter in Einstein's Closed Universe.

In two preceding articles,(1) the principles of thermodynamics have been expressed in a form suitable for applications in general relativity, and then applied to Einstein's closed universe, employing a set of coordinates in which the line element assumes the form ds^2 = -R^2dX^2 - R^2 sin^2 X(dθ^2 + sin^2 θdp^2) + dt2.
Formation of the 5×5 reconstruction on cleaved Si(111) surfaces studied by scanning tunneling microscopy

The transformation of cleaved Si(111)2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1 surfaces into apparent 1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1, 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}5, and 7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}7 structures has been studied with the scanning tunneling microscope. Two reaction paths are identified, one proceeding through a disordered adatom arrangement into the 7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}7 structure, and the other proceeding directly from 2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1 into the 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}5 structure. Near a nucleation site (step or domain boundary), the first path is favored due to the abundance of adatoms on the surface, and far from a nucleation site the second path dominates.
Science as a Web of Trails: Redesigning Science Education with the Tools of the Present to Meet the Needs of the Future

Science education has experienced significant changes since the mid-20th century, most recently with the creation of STEM curricula (DeBoer 1991; Yager 2000). The emergence of the World Wide Web as a tool in research and discovery offers Pre-K-12 science education an opportunity to share information and perspectives which engage students with the scientific community (Zoller 2011). Students are able to access open, transparent sites creating common resources pools and autonomous working groups which can be used for shared problem solving. Science teachers should carefully build web 2.0 technology into their practice based on a changing pedagogy. Instead of focusing on teaching rule-based concepts and processes in which the teacher’s role is that of expert, education should be focusing on possibilities of the web both in scientific research and understanding. In addition, web-focused education can also help remake scientific product as a public good in the lives of both science researchers and science consumers.
B cells move to centre stage: novel opportunities for autoimmune disease treatment

The B-cell arm of the immune system has long been appreciated for its crucial role in pathogen resistance, but in the study of many autoimmune diseases, T cells have dominated the limelight for decades. However, the development of the B-cell-depleting antibody rituximab as a lymphoma therapy has provided a tool to probe the contribution made by B cells in several immune disorders. Recently, the success of B-cell depletion with rituximab in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has stimulated investigation of its effects in several other immune disorders, and considerable interest in the potential of drugs that can modulate B-cell function for the treatment of such diseases in general. This article discusses the role of B cells in a range of autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, and analyses approaches to therapeutic B-cell manipulation.
Analysis of a Markov decision process model for intrusion tolerance

We consider a simplest Markov decision process model for intrusion tolerance, assuming that (i) each attack proceeds through one or more steps before the system's security fails and (ii) defensive responses targeting these intermediate steps may only sometimes thwart the attack. Our analysis shows that, even in the ideal case of perfect detectors, it can be sub-optimal in the long run to employ defensive responses while under attack; that is, depending on attack dynamics and response effectiveness, the total overhead of ongoing defensive countermeasures can exceed the total risk of intermittent security failures. Simulation experiments reveal that a tradeoff between these two types of costs persists in the realistic case of imperfect detectors. These experiments also shed light on (i) the extent to which increasing sensor uncertainty monotonically degrades achievable performance and (ii) the loss from optimum performance of two popular rule-based policies for response selection.
Cutaneous Blood Flow Responses to Injection Trauma Measured by Laser Doppler Velocimetry

The question has been raised repeatedly: what is the effect of an intracutaneous injection on skin blood flow? This is particularly relevant where radioisotope clearance techniques are used for its measurement. This study was performed to measure these changes. Using the noninvasive technique of laser Doppler velocimetry to measure cutaneous blood flow, injections were made in the forearm skin with a needle alone, and with 20 μ l of saline, histamine or epinephrine. In each case, measurements were made at resting flow and elevated flow levels, the latter produced by heating the site to 44°C for 5min prior to the study. At resting flow levels, insertion of the needle or injection of saline produced approximately a sevenfold increase in flow over the base line; the flow increase remained elevated for periods of at least 20min. Histamine produced a much smaller increase, and epinephrine a decrease as compared to the base line. In the heated sites, vasodilatation was already present, and flow levels decreased in all cases, slightly with the needle and saline, more with histamine, and most with epinephrine. It is concluded that there is a significant increase in skin blood flow caused by injections into the skin, but this response is progressively more masked as base line flow levels increase.
Analyzing the association between referees' recommendations and editors' decisions

We use a method that captures the intrinsic metrics of variables in a cross-tabulation to analyze data on the association between referee recommendations and editorial decisions at two scholarly journals. The method enables researchers to (1) determine the number of latent dimensions needed to account for this association, and (2) estimate scale values for both the referee-recommendation and the editorial-decision categories. We show that one latent dimension is sufficient to account for the association at each journal, and that both referee-recommendation categories and editorial-decision categories have scale values on the dimension that are consistent with their ostensible meanings.
Application of robust estimating equations to the analysis of quantitative longitudinal data

A model fit by general estimating equations (GEE) has been used extensively for the analysis of longitudinal data in medical studies. To some extent, GEE tries to minimize a quadratic form of the residuals, and therefore is not robust in the sense that it, like least squares estimates, is sensitive to heavy-tailed distributions, contaminated distributions and extreme values. This paper describes the family of truncated robust estimating equations and its properties for the analysis of quantitative longitudinal data. Like GEE, the robust estimating equations aim to assess the covariate effects in the generalized linear model in the complete population of observations, but in a manner that is more robust to the influence of aberrant observations. A simulation study has been conducted to compare the finite-sample performance of GEE and the robust estimating equations under a variety of error distributions and data structures. It shows that the parameter estimates based on GEE and the robust estimating equations are approximately unbiased and the type I errors of Wald tests do not tend to be inflated. GEE is slightly more efficient with pure normal data, but the efficiency of GEE declines much more quickly than the robust estimating equations when the data become contaminated or have heavy tails, which makes the robust estimating equations advantageous with non-normal data. Both GEE and the robust estimating equations are applied to a longitudinal analysis of renal function in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT). For this application, GEE seems to be sensitive to the working correlation specification in that different working correlation structures may lead to different conclusions about the effect of intensive diabetes treatment. On the other hand, the robust estimating equations consistently conclude that the treatment effect is highly significant no matter which working correlation structure is used. The DCCT Research Group also demonstrated a significant effect using a mixed-effects longitudinal model.
Dysembryoplastic Neuroepithelial Tumor with Atypical Presentation: MRI and Diffusion Tensor Characteristics

We report the neuroimaging findings of a 26-year-old female patient with a biopsy-proven dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNET). DNETs are an uncommon, usually benign, glial-neural cortical neoplasm of children and young adults who typically present with intractable seizures. DNETs may occur in any region of the supratentorial cortex, but have a predilection for the temporal lobes. Accurate neuroimaging diagnosis is essential since patients with DNET benefit from complete resection. However, accurate differentiation from other cortical lesions may be challenging. Typical conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) features can help in the differentiation from other similar cortical tumors. Diffusion tensor imaging can also provide important additional diagnostic information regarding the degree of involvement of adjacent parenchyma and white matter tracts. In this case, tractography and fractional anisotropy maps demonstrated that fiber tracts surrounding the lesion were displaced, but fiber integrity was maintained, which is more suggestive of a DNET rather than a more aggressive neoplasm. Accurate identification of DNETs is essential for the purpose of rendering a timely diagnosis and start appropriate treatment.
Stochastic dynamics of micron-scale doubly clamped beams in a viscous fluid

We study the stochastic dynamics of doubly clamped micron-scale beams in a viscous fluid driven by Brownian motion. We use a thermodynamic approach to compute the equilibrium fluctuations in beam displacement that requires only deterministic calculations. From calculations of the autocorrelations and noise spectra we quantify the beam dynamics by the quality factor and resonant frequency of the fundamental flexural mode over a wide range of experimentally accessible geometries. We consider beams with uniform rectangular cross section and explore the increased quality factor and resonant frequency as a baseline geometry is varied by increasing the width, increasing the thickness, and decreasing the length. The quality factor is nearly doubled by tripling either the width or the height of the beam. Much larger improvements are found by decreasing the beam length, however this is limited by the appearance of additional modes of fluid dissipation. Overall, the stochastic dynamics of the wider and thicker beams are well predicted by a two-dimensional approximate theory beyond what may be expected based upon the underlying assumptions, whereas the shorter beams require a more detailed analysis.
Preprogrammed and programmed cell death mechanisms of apoptosis: UV-induced immediate and delayed apoptosis.

Equitoxic doses (10% clonogenic survival) of UV radiation (UVR) from the three waveband regions, i.e. UVAl (340–400 nm), UVB (290–320 nm) and UVC (200–290 nm), were shown to induce immediate or delayed apoptosis in L5178Y-R murine lymphoma cells. Membrane and DNA damage were shown to be the most probable initiators of UVAl-induced immediate or UVR-induced delayed apoptosis, respectively. These UV-induced apop-totic processes appeared to utilize two different “core” biochemical mechanisms; however, one core mechanism could be initiated at two distinct sites (e.g. membrane or DNA) and result in disparate kinetics. In an attempt to resolve this mechanistic issue, the dependence on mac-romolecular synthesis of each UV-induced apoptotic mechanism was investigated. In the absence of UVR, inhibition of either transcription (actinomycin D) or translation (cycloheximide) induced apoptosis in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. These results suggest that an apoptotic mechanism exists that does not require macromolecular synthesis postinsult (constitutive). The UVR data demonstrate that UVAl-induced immediate apoptosis utilizes this constitutive mechanism (preprogrammed), while UVR-induced delayed apoptosis utilizes the well-known inducible mechanism (programmed). Therefore, there are two different core biochemical mechanisms of apoptotic death available to each cell: preprogrammed (constitutive) and programmed (inducible) cell death.
Differentiating Nuisance from Felony Offenses among Homeless Substance Abusers in a V.A. Medical Center

Abstract This study investigated the self-reported criminal histories of 188 homeless persons participating in a Veterans' Affairs Medical Center program for substance abusers. Forty percent had been hospitalized for a psychiatric illness prior to the study and 45 percent were classified as comorbid (i.e., diagnoses of substance abuse and other psychiatric problems). The purpose of the study was to: (a) find out what proportion of these homeless veterans reported committing felonies, (b) investigate what factors discriminated between non-offenders, nuisance offenders, and felons, and (c) discuss some rehabilitation implications of the findings. Contrary to generalizations in the literature that the majority of homeless persons commit only nuisance offenses, this study found that 77 individuals, or 41 percent of the sample, reported felony offenses. This was a greater proportion than the 27 percent who reported being involved in nuisance offenses. The discriminators considered in this study allow approxima...
African American Grandchildren Raised in Grandparent-Headed Families: An Exploratory Study

There has been an increase in grandparents raising their grandchildren due to parental absence. This family structure has affected urban, single, low-income African Americans at a higher rate than any other racial group. Research on grandchildren reared in grandparent-headed families (GHF) states these children are at risk of significant emotional, behavioral, physical problems, and learning disabilities than children living with their biological parents. This exploratory study involved qualitative individual interviews with 14 African American grandchildren ages 10–16 and their 6 grandparent caregivers. Results indicated that although the majority of the grandchildren were content living with their grandparents, they experienced adjustment issues related to their histories of family disruption and parental loss. Family factors that might affect grandchildren’s adjustment to living in a GHF are discussed, as well as implications for counselors and recommendations for future research with grandchildren fro...
Some factors which affect the ocular drug responses

Abstract Although the cornea represents a major barrier for the transport of drugs into the aqueous humor, the metabolizing enzymes, such as esterases, monoamine oxidase and catechol-O-methyl transferase can limit the duration of drug action in the eye. In addition, the drug binding by ocular melanins can limit the early initaition of the ocular response. Where a drug exhibits large differences in the duration of the ocular responses in lightly pigmented and heavily pigmented irides, the drug binding by melanins appears to be the most important factor that contributes to the observed changes. This capacity of melanins to bind drugs far exceeds that of any other known biopolymer isolated from living tissues. The drug bound by melanins can be subsequently released to prolong the duration of response. Thus, 8–10 days duration of the mydriatic effect of atropine, for example, is related to the binding to the pigment cell melanins. The bound atropine is slowly released onto muscarinic receptors.
Review of sentinel lymph node biopsy and systemic interferon for melanoma: promising but investigational modalities.

Background. There is conflicting data regarding the efficacy of systemic interferon as adjuvant therapy for high-risk cutaneous melanoma. Sentinel lymph node biopsy has recently gained acceptance in the surgical management of high-risk melanoma, despite a lack of data supporting its efficacy. Objective. To review the evidence concerning interferon and lymph node biopsy in the management of melanoma. Methods. A systematic review of all randomized, controlled trials involving adjuvant interferon and sentinel lymph node biopsy in management of melanoma is presented. Results. Current data regarding the efficacy of adjuvant interferon in the management of melanoma is conflicting. The conflicting results of studies involving both low-dose and high-dose systemic interferon for the adjuvant treatment of melanoma remain unresolved. There is no randomized, controlled data to support the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy in the management of melanoma, despite its widespread acceptance. Conclusion. Sentinel lymph node biopsy and systemic interferon remain promising modalities in the management of melanoma, although there is no affinitive evidence to support their efficacy.
Nosocomial blood-stream infection in patients with end-stage renal disease: excess length of hospital stay, extra cost and attributable mortality

Abstract Patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing haemodialysis are at high risk of nosocomial blood-stream infection (BSI), but data on the associated costs in this patient population are not available. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective matched (1:2) case-control study of such patients undergoing haemodialysis from January 1998 to December 1998 in a medical centre in southern Taiwan to determine the excess length of hospital stay, attributable mortality, and the extra cost caused by nosocomial BSI. The excess length of hospital stay was 30 days for cases vs. 16 days for controls ( P P =0.003) (attributable mortality being 26.3%), and the median of overall costs was $NT 131584 for cases vs. $NT 65282 for controls ( P
Nonintuitive Asymmetry in the Three-Body Photodissociation of CH3COCN

Pathways, energetics, and mechanisms of the 193 nm photodissociation of acetyl cyanide (CH3COCN) have been investigated using high-resolution transient frequency modulation (FM) spectroscopy and photofragment translational spectroscopy. Vibrational and rotational state distributions of CN fragments measured by FM spectroscopy are in good agreement with previous work. The quantum yield of CN is found to be 0.9 ± 0.2. State-dependent translational energy distributions are nonstatistical. The laboratory-frame anisotropy of both velocity and angular momentum of CN fragments is vanishingly small, yet significant v·j correlations are observed, indicating a preference for the CN angular momentum to be perpendicular to the recoil velocity. Photofragment translational spectroscopy provided independent confirmation of kinetic energy distributions and fragmentation pathways. The combined measurements are consistent with the strong preference for primary CN elimination over CH3 elimination, despite a large difference...
On-line monitoring of the methanogenic fermentation by measurement of culture fluorescence

Real-time on-line fluorescence measurements of the coenzymes NAD(P)H and F420 were evaluated as indicators of stability in a glucose-fed anaerobic methanogenic digester. A probe designed forin situ fluorimetric measurement of NAD(P)H provided an assessment of activity of the total microbial community, while the response of a fluorescence probe designed to measure coenzyme F420 correlated well with methanogenic activity. The two fluorescence-monitoring probes responded directly to fermentation imbalance during periods of substrate overloading and corresponded to traditional offline measurements, suggesting that the probes may be suitable candidates for inclusion in an on-line process control system for anaerobic digestion.
Improving software pipelining with hardware support for self-spatial loads

Recent work in software pipelining in the presence of uncertain memory latencies has shown that using compilergenerated cache-reuse analysis to determine proper load latencies can improve performance significantly [14, 19, 9]. Even with reuse information, references with a stride-one access pattern in the cache (called self-spatial loads) have been treated as all cache hits or all cache misses rather than as a single cache miss followed by a few cache hits in the rest of the cache line. In this paper, we show how hardware support for loading two consecutive cache lines with one instruction (called a prefetching load) when directed by the compiler can significantly improve software pipelining for scientific program loops. On set of 79 Fortran loops when using prefetching loads, we observed an average performance improvement of 7% over assuming all self-spatial loads are cache misses (assuming all hits often gives worse performance than assuming all misses [14]). In addition, prefetching loads reduced floating-point register pressure by 31% and integer register pressure by 20%. As a result, we were able to software pipeline 31% more loops within modern register constraints (32 integer/32 floating-point registers) with prefetching loads. These results show that specialized prefetching load instructions have considerable potential to improve software pipelining for array-based scientific codes.
Towards structural systematicity in distributed, statically bound visual representations

The problem of representing the spatial structure of images, which arises in visual object processing, is commonly described using terminology borrowed from propositional theories of cognition, notably, the concept of compositionality. The classical propositional stance mandates representations composed of symbols, which stand for atomic or composite entities and enter into arbitrarily nested relationships. We argue that the main desiderata of a representational system—productivity and systematicity—can (indeed, for a number of reasons, should) be achieved without recourse to the classical, proposition-like compositionality. We show how this can be done, by describing a systematic and productive model of the representation of visual structure, which relies on static rather than dynamic binding and uses coarsely coded rather than atomic shape primitives.
The Study of Liquid Suspensions of Iron Oxide Particles with a Magnetic Field-Flow Fractionation Device

Abstract A magnetic field-flow fractionation (magnetic FFF) device was used to determine the effects of a magnetic field upon a suspension of iron oxide particles in acetonitrile. The effects of surface modifiers on the stability of the suspension are discussed in terms of changes in retention, peak shape, and peak area. Particle elution was monitored by the use of a UV-visible spectrophotometer fitted with a flowcell.
Tarsal Chemoreceptors of the Housefly and Their Possible Relation to Ddt Toxicity

Chemoreceptive sensilla are associated with the functions of taste and smell. These are found on various parts of the body such as antennae, palpi and tarsi. Those on the tarsi are usually considered to be gustatory in function and in several species of Lepidoptera have been shown to be most sensitive to sugars. Chemoreceptive sensilla are of various types. Those associated with small, slender hairs have delicate walls and are supposed to be receptive to odors and are distinguished as chemoreceptive hairs. They fall in the category of sensilla called sensilla trichodea . Such hairs are innervated by a group of sense cells and not by a single bipolar sense cell as are the trichodea sensilla that are regarded as organs of touch. According to Wigglesworth (1939, p. 150), these thin-walled sensilla have no socket or trichopore at their base. The tormogen cell is often absent although the trichogen cell is usually large and secretes a product that fills the thiri-walled hair. The sense cells are usually many in number and may form clusters of twenty or thirty. They are enclosed in a nucleated coat which is continuous with the neurolemma of the attached nerves. The proximal nerve being the afferent process and distal nerve forms the terminal filament.
Evaluation of passive millimeter wave system performance in adverse weather conditions

Passive millimeter wave (PMMW) imaging has shown distinct advantages for detection of terrestrial targets under optically obscuring conditions such as cloud, haze, snow, and light rain. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the performance of a PMMW imager for terrestrial target recognition with respect to range of detection and climatic variables such as cloud, light rain, and snow. We used a dual polarization MMW radiometer in the frequency range of 70-100 GHz for the evaluation. We present experimental results and analyze the effect of weather conditions on the image quality and its polarization contrast. These results will be useful for quantitative prediction of PMMW system performance for long-range terrestrial imaging.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Presence of the anti-leukemic nucleotide analog, 2-chloro-2′-deoxyadenosine-5′-monophosphate, in a promoter sequence alters DNA binding of TATA-binding protein (TBP)

2-Chlorodeoxyadenosine (CldAdo, Cladribine), a nucleoside analog used in the treatment of hairy cell leukemia, is phosphorylated and incorporated into DNA, but is not an absolute chain terminator. We hypothesized that the presence of a chlorine molecule projecting into the DNA minor groove would affect DNA:protein-binding interactions. Here, we investigated recognition of and binding to double-stranded CldAMP-substituted TATA promoter sequences by human TATA-binding protein (TBP) using mobility shift assays. Depending on the site, CldAMP in place of dAMP within a TATA sequence decreased in vitro TBP binding by approximately 30% to 55% compared to control sites. When bound to a CldAMP-substituted TATA box, however, the TBP complex was more resistant to polyanions, suggesting enhanced stability. Limited exposure of the TBP:DNA complex to proteases indicated that TBP conformation was altered on CldAMP-substituted DNA compared to control. Further, binding of transcription factor IIB to TBP was diminished on analog-containing TATA sequences. These results suggest normal TBP-binding interactions--specifically recognition, stability, and conformation-are disrupted by CldAMP insertion into eukaryotic promoter sequences.
Comparison of clozapine response for inpatients in the research setting versus routine clinical practice.

Objective This study compares patient characteristics and treatment response between inpatients treated with clozapine in a research setting as compared to those initiated on clozapine during routine inpatient treatment.
The role and limitations of frozen section and needle aspiration biopsy in breast cancer diagnosis

Frozen section of breast biopsy specimens, and cytologic smears of breast mass aspirates, are both acceptable methods in the initial evaluation of palpable breast masses. The latter method is an outpatient procedure without significant morbidity. Interpretation may be made immediately; however, the diagnostic information obtained is limited to "malignant" or "negative." Frozen section may be applied to open biopsy or needle core biopsy specimens. In either case, the false-negative rate is less than that experienced with needle aspiration, and additional information is obtained regarding the histologic characteristic of the neoplasm. Although open biopsy is an operating room procedure, needle core biopsy may be performed in the office; however, local anesthetic is required and the patients do experience more pain than with fine-needle aspiration. The selection of the proper procedure must be individualized, depending on the clinical situation and the amount of diagnostic information required. It is essential to remember that although a positive result may be considered diagnostic, a negative report is always tenuous and should not lead to definitive therapy.
Is there a place for teacher education in gifted education

Mertens states that teachers should be trained in enrichment education not gifted education, and that the traditional school curriculum could be stretched to serve the needs of the gifted with acceleration and fast‐paced tracks.
GC-MS Determination of Flavonoids and Phenolic and Benzoic Acids in Human Plasma after Consumption of Cranberry Juice

A GC-MS method was developed for the determination of various flavonoids and phenolic and benzoic acids in human plasma. The procedure involved the extraction of flavonoids and phenolic and benzoic acids with ethyl acetate, followed by the derivatization of the phenolic and benzoic compounds with BSTFA (N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide) + TMCS (trimethylchlorosilane) reagent. The trimethylsilyl derivatives formed were separated and quantitated using GC-MS. Twenty flavonoids and phenolic and benzoic compounds have been well separated in the spiked human plasma without any interference. The average recovery was 79.3%. Several phenolic acids such as o-hydroxybenzoic, p-hydroxyphenylacetic, 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic, ferulic, sinapic, and benzoic acid were identified and quantified in human plasma after consumption of a cranberry juice. This developed method provides a simple, specific, and sensitive technique for the simultaneous determination of flavonoids and phenolic and benzoic acids in human plasma and is suitable for bioavailability and pharmacokinetic studies.
Measurements and 2-D Modeling of Recycling and Edge Transport in Discharges with Lithium-coated PFCs in NSTX

Abstract The application of lithium coatings on plasma facing components has been shown to profoundly affect plasma performance in the National Spherical Torus Experiment, improving energy confinement and eliminating edge-localized modes. The edge particle balance during these ELM-free discharges has been studied through 2-D plasma-neutrals modeling, constrained by measurements of the upstream plasma density and temperature profiles and the divertor heat flux and Dα emission. The calculations indicate that the reduction in divertor Dα emission with lithium coatings applied is consistent with a drop in recycling coefficient from R ∼ 0.98 to R ∼ 0.9. The change in recycling is not sufficient to account for the change in edge density profiles: interpretive modeling indicates similar transport coefficients within the edge transport barrier (D/χe ∼ 0.2/1.0 m2/s), but a widening of the barrier with lithium.
Solution and solid‐state structures of lithiated cyclic phosphonates

Spectroscopic analysis of lithiated cyclic phospho-nates belonging to the 1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinane 2-oxide class have been examined by NMR spectroscopy in THF and by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Lithio P-benzyl-1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinane 2-oxide (Li+7−) and lithio P-isopropyl-1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinane 2-oxide (Li+8−) are characterized by freely rotating, sp2-hybridized anions devoid of lithium–carbon contacts. The anions are most likely dimers linked through oxygen-lithium bridges. The P-isopropyl compound crystallized from TMEDA/THF as a C-lithiated dimer in which each lithium bridges a carbon and an oxygen and is solvated by one TMEDA molecule. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 9:209–218, 1998
Enzyme-targeted fluorescent imaging probes on a multiple antigenic peptide core

Peptide dendrimers have a variety of applications in biology such as the vehicles for drug and gene delivery, molecular inhibitors, protein mimics, and synthetic vaccines. The multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) system is a well-known example of a discrete, dendrimeric scaffold. We explored a novel application of the MAP-based scaffold by designing molecular probes that fluoresce only after enzymatic treatment. The probes, which were synthesized on solid support, incorporate a cathepsin S dipeptide substrate (Leu-Arg), and a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chain in their dendritic arms. The fluorescence emission of the near-infrared fluorochromes attached to the N-termini of the dendritic arms was quenched. Mechanistic studies revealed formation of H-type dye aggregates within the tetravalent MAP system. By varying the length of the PEG chain, three probes were synthesized, CyPEG-1, CyPEG-2, and CyPEG-3 with 4, 8, and 12 ethylene oxide units, respectively. CyPEG-2 showed optimum aqueous solubility and quenching efficiency for imaging applications. Upon proteolytic activation with cathepsin S (EC 3.4.22.27), CyPEG-2 showed greater than 70-fold increase and more than 95% recovery in fluorescence emission.
Analyzing Social Networks as Stochastic Processes

Abstract This article presents a new methodology for studying a social network of interpersonal relationships, based on stochastic modeling of the changes that occur in the network over time. Specifically, we postulate that these changes can be modeled as a continuous-time Markov chain. The transition rates for the chain are dependent on a small set of parameters that measure the importance of various aspects of social structure on the probability of change. We discuss the assumptions of the framework and describe two simple models that are applications of it. We then present, analyze, and interpret several examples, and we outline methods of parameter estimation. The models prove to be quite effective and allow us to better understand the evolution of a network.
A Frightening Love: Recasting the Problem of Evil by Gleeson Andrew

New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, pp. ix + 172, US$85.00 (hardcover). The book aspires to be a broad critique of the author's vision of analytic or Anglo-American approaches to philosophy: Overal...
Elastic coupling of integral membrane protein stability to lipid bilayer forces

It has been traditionally difficult to measure the thermodynamic stability of membrane proteins because fully reversible protocols for complete folding these proteins were not available. Knowledge of the thermodynamic stability of membrane proteins is desirable not only from a fundamental theoretical standpoint, but is also of enormous practical interest for the rational design of membrane proteins and for optimizing conditions for their structure determination by crystallography or NMR. Here, we describe the design of a fully reversible system to study equilibrium folding of the outer membrane protein A from Escherichia coli in lipid bilayers. Folding is shown to be two-state under appropriate conditions permitting data analysis with a classical folding model developed for soluble proteins. The resulting free energy and m value, i.e., a measure of cooperativity, of unfolding are and m = 1.1 kcal/mol M–1, respectively, in a reference bilayer composed of palmitoyl-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (C16:0C18:1PC) and palmitoyloleoyl-phosphatidylglycerol (C16:0C18:1PG). These values are strong functions of the lipid bilayer environment. By systematic variation of lipid headgroup and chain composition, we show that elastic bilayer forces such as curvature stress and hydrophobic mismatch modulate the free energy and cooperativity of folding of this and perhaps many other membrane proteins.
Run-time code generation and modal-ML

This paper presents a typed programming language and compiler for run-time code generation. The language, called ML', extends ML with modal operators in the style of the Mini-ML'e language of Davies and Pfenning. ML' allows programmers to use types to specify precisely the stages of computation in a program. The types also guide the compiler in generating target code that exploits the staging information through the use of run-time code generation. The target machine is currently a version of the Categorical Abstract Machine, called the CCAM, which we have extended with facilities for run-time code generation.This approach allows the programmer to express the staging that he wants directly to the compiler. It also provides a typed framework in which to verify the correctness of his staging intentions, and to discuss his staging decisions with other programmers. Finally, it supports in a natural way multiple stages of run-time specialization, so that dynamically generated code can be used in the generation of yet further specialized code.This paper presents an overview of the language, with several examples of programs that illustrate key concepts and programming techniques. Then, it discusses the CCAM and the compilation of ML' programs into CCAM code. Finally, the results of some experiments are shown, to demonstrate the benefits of this style of run-time code generation for some applications.
A deformable-model approach to semi-automatic segmentation of CT images demonstrated by application to the spinal canal.

Because of the importance of accurately defining the target in radiation treatment planning, we have developed a deformable-template algorithm for the semi-automatic delineation of normal tissue structures on computed tomography(CT)images. We illustrate the method by applying it to the spinal canal. Segmentation is performed in three steps: (a) partial delineation of the anatomic structure is obtained by wavelet-based edge detection; (b) a deformable-model template is fitted to the edge set by chamfer matching; and (c) the template is relaxed away from its original shape into its final position. Appropriately chosen ranges for the model parameters limit the deformations of the template, accounting for interpatient variability. Our approach differs from those used in other deformable models in that it does not inherently require the modeling of forces. Instead, the spinal canal was modeled using Fourier descriptors derived from four sets of manually drawn contours. Segmentation was carried out, without manual intervention, on five CTdata sets and the algorithm’s performance was judged subjectively by two radiation oncologists. Two assessments were considered: in the first, segmentation on a random selection of 100 axial CTimages was compared with the corresponding contours drawn manually by one of six dosimetrists, also chosen randomly; in the second assessment, the segmentation of each image in the five evaluable CT sets (a total of 557 axial images) was rated as either successful, unsuccessful, or requiring further editing. Contours generated by the algorithm were more likely than manually drawn contours to be considered acceptable by the oncologists. The mean proportions of acceptable contours were 93% (automatic) and 69% (manual). Automatic delineation of the spinal canal was deemed to be successful on 91% of the images, unsuccessful on 2% of the images, and requiring further editing on 7% of the images. Our deformable template algorithm thus gives a robust segmentation of the spinal canal on CTimages. The method can be extended to other structures, although it remains to be shown that chamfer matching is sufficiently robust for the delineation of soft-tissue structures surrounded by soft tissue.
Eigen-basis analysis of expected modulus perturbation for constrained signal design

Radar waveforms typically require a constant modulus (constant amplitude) transmit signal to efficiently exploit the available transmit power. However, recent hardware advances and the capability for arbitrary (phase and amplitude) designed waveforms have forced a re-examination of this assumption to quantify the impact of modulus perturbation from phase only signals. In this paper, we express the signal modulus in terms of an eigen-basis obtained from a well-known eigenvalue distribution that is equivalent, in the limit of large data, to the eigen-spectrum of an interference and noise covariance matrix for certain radar data. We also derive a generalized predictive model for the signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) as a function of the modulus and basis dimension to aid in the decision making process of an adaptive radar. Monte Carlo computer simulations are used to validate the analytical findings.
Strings on plane waves, super-Yang–Mills in four dimensions, quantum groups at roots of one

We show that the BMN operators in D=4, N=4 super-Yang–Mills theory proposed as duals of stringy oscillators in a plane wave background have a natural quantum group construction in terms of the quantum deformation of the SO(6) R-symmetry. We describe in detail how a q-deformed U(2) subalgebra generates BMN operators, with q∼e2iπ/J. The standard quantum coproduct as well as generalized traces which use q-cyclic operators acting on tensor products of Higgs fields are the ingredients in this construction. They generate the oscillators with the correct (undeformed) permutation symmetries of Fock space oscillators. The quantum group can be viewed as a spectrum generating algebra, and suggests that correlators of BMN operators should have a geometrical meaning in terms of spaces with quantum group symmetry.