cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Actor Training in New York City

��� oday there are more than one hundred and fifty universities in the U.S. offer ing either a BFA or an MFA in acting. Nearly all of them are trying to prepare students for work onstage or in film and television. In addition to these programs, there are literally hundreds of undergraduate theatre programs that offer a BA concentration in acting, as well as countless acting studios, academies, and teachers operating privately, all of which add to a growing list of people and institutions that comprise American actor training. In short, the training of U.S. actors is an industry unto itself, a point demonstrated by the ubiquity of advertisements lining the pages of American Theatre any given month. Does this country really need several hundred acting schools? Can the profession even remotely provide employment for the thousands of young men and women who graduate from these programs each year? What is the overarching purpose of training U.S. actors, and who is ultimately being served by it? Because of the sheer scope of the topic, my focus is limited to acting programs at colleges and universities in New York City and its surrounding area. This sampling of the academic structure, curriculum, faculty, and pedagogy of a handful of programs can serve as a general representation of U.S. actor training at the level of higher education. Limitations of space preclude mentioning the numerous acting studios, academies, and private instruction currently offered in New York City. Nonetheless, the reader should be reminded that there are hundreds of businesses and individuals marketing themselves as actor trainers in New York City today, a fact made obvious by a simple Google search of the subject. Prior to the 1960s, acting instruction at the level of higher education was primarily under the auspices of English and speech departments, whereas privately operated academies and acting schools largely prepared people for the profession. Beginning with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1884, most of these pre-professional schools were located in New York City. In the middle 1950s, there were roughly fifteen to twenty such schools that ranged from the American Academy to offshoots of the Group Theatre’s approach to acting, namely the Stella Adler Conservatory, Neighborhood Playhouse, and Actors Studio. During the 1960s, and in conjunction THE EDUCATION OF THE ARTIST
The central portion of the Fe-Th phase diagram

During an earlier series of measurements of the heat capacities of alloys in the central portion of the Fe-Th system, results were obtained that raised questions as to the temperature ranges of stability of the intermediate phases, Fe7Th2 and Fe3Th. A supplementary investigation was therefore undertaken with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to clarify the situation. The results indicate that the peritectic reaction at 1200 °C involves Fe7Th2 rather than Fe3Th and that there is a cascading series of peritectic reactions between the congruent melting of Fe17Tl2 at 1462 °C and the eutectic reaction at 875 °C.
Tegafur/uracil + calcium folinate in colorectal cancer: double modulation of fluorouracil.

The oral chemotherapeutic agent tegafur/uracil (UFT®) is the first of a new class of anticancer drugs called dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase inhibitory fluoropyrimidines. Tegafur/uracil combines uracil with the fluorouracil prodrug tegafur in a 4: 1 molar ratio. Uracil competitively inhibits the degradation of fluorouracil, which results in the concentration of fluorouracil remaining at sustained levels in both plasma and tumour. Tegafur/uracil has been commercially available in Japan since 1983 and examined extensively in various tumours. Trials conducted in the US have focused on the combination of tegafur/uracil plus calcium folinate (calcium leucovorin) [ORZEL®]. Several phase I and II trials have evaluated the maximum tolerated dose, pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety of this combination in the treatment of colorectal cancer. Results have shown that tegafur/uracil at 300 mg/m2/day in divided doses given every 8 hours for 28 days provides prolonged exposure to fluorouracil. Furthermore, tegafur/uracil + calcium folinate is well tolerated, with dose-limiting toxicity manifesting as diarrhoea. Compared with intravenous fluorouracil plus folinic acid (leucovorin) regimens, tegafur/uracil + calcium folinate has similar efficacy with less toxicity and is more convenient because it is an oral regimen. Early studies have also shown potential cost savings because of fewer complications.
Long-period seismicity at Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, 1989-1990 related to magma degassing

Abstract The mass of exsolved magmatic H 2 O is estimated and compared to the mass of superheated steam (25–50 Mtons) released through the resonating crack producing the December 13–14, 1989 swarm of long-period seismic events at Redoubt Volcano. Results indicate degassing of a H 2 O-CO 2 -SO 2 -saturated magma upon ascending from at least 12 km to 3–4 km beneath the crater as the source of the superheated steam. The mass of exsolved H 2 O (3.2–250 Mtons) is estimated from solubility diagrams of H 2 O-CO 2 -saturated silicate melts for the ascent history of the Redoubt magmas. Crystal size distribution, seismological, petrological, and geochemical data are used to constrain the ascent history of the two andesitic magmas prior to the eruption. Two stages of crystallization are inferred from crystal size distributions of plagioclase crystals in andesites erupted in December 1989. The first stage occurred 30–150 years before the eruption in both magmas and the second stage occurred at least 8 years and 15 years before the eruption in the dacitic andesite and rhyolitic andesite, respectively. The depths of crystallization are constrained from the spatial and temporal variations of volcano-tectonic earthquakes locations (Lahr et al., 1994) and from the P-wave and S-wave velocity structures (Benz et al., 1996). These data suggest that the rhyolitic andesite magma ascended to a depth of 7–8 km within at least 15 years of the eruption. Within at least 8 years of the eruption, the dacitic andesite magma migrated to a depth just below the other magma body where it resided until hours to days of the eruption. At this time, the dacitic andesite magma mixed with the rhyolitic andesite magma and established the reservoir for the eruption. Near the top of the reservoir, some of the mixed magma was displaced into fractures which extended 4–5 km toward the surface. This displaced magma created the eruption conduit and released the fluids related to the resonating crack. This scenario is consistent with the trends in major- and trace-element chemistry, and the stability of hornblende in the pre-eruption Redoubt magmas. It also provides a source for the SO 2 and CO 2 emissions measured during the eruption.
Characterization and localization of nitric oxide synthase in the human prostate

Abstract Objectives To characterize nitric oxide synthase (NOS), which catalyzes nitric oxide (NO) production, in the human prostate using biochemical and immunohistochemical techniques. Methods NOS catalytic assay and NOS immunohistochemistry were performed on histologically verified nonmalignant prostate tissue obtained from the peripheral and transition zones of seven radical prostatectomy specimens. Results Biochemical analysis revealed NOS activity in the human prostate, with a greater amount in the peripheral zone than in the transition zone ( P Conclusions The presence, activity, and distribution of NOS were described in two regions of the human prostate. The present evidence implicates NO in the autonomic innervation and physiology of the human prostate. It is proposed that NO may modulate smooth muscle tone and secretory functions in the human prostate, although functional studies are needed to support these hypotheses.
Assessment of the Solubility and Bioaccessibility of Barium and Aluminum in Soils Affected by Mine Dust Deposition

Barium is a heavy metal to which human and animal receptors may be exposed in various settingsfor example, in mineral extraction industries where the mining and milling of ores occurs. Aluminum is also an element abundant in soil and dust to which human and animal receptors may be exposed in association with such industries. This study investigated the solubility and bioaccessibility of barium and aluminum in simulated gastric fluids using an in vitro test method previously validated for lead. Soil samples were collected from the vicinity of a mine and transport road that generated fugitive dust containing barium as barite (BaSO4). It was found that barium bioaccessibility in different tundra soil and fugitive dust source materials varied greatly, between 0.07 and 66.0%, depending on sample location, grain size, solid-to-fluid ratio used in the in vitro experiments, and the analytical method selected for determining total barium concentrations in the sample substrates. For X-ray fluorescence spectrometry ...
Emergence of occupational medical services outside the workplace

A new type of occupational medicine clinic has recently emerged in the United States. These clinics are multispecialty in staffing, are located in hospital outpatient departments, and are affiliated with academic medical centers. Their primary goal is to provide personal health and medical services including diagnosis, treatment, and follow-through of occupationally related diseases. Approximately 15 such clinics have been established in the last several years. A review of the medical, economic, and social forces that have historically shaped the content and scope of occupational medical and health services for workers explains in large part the reasons why many of these clinics have now come into being. Characteristics of eight of these clinics are reviewed in detail. These clinics provide a setting for inter-disciplinary and interspecialty education of personnel and offer the medical community a demonstration of a means for better recognition and treatment of occupationally related illnesses.
Postharvest Quarantine Treatments for Diaphorina citri on Infested Curry Leaves

Studies were conducted to evaluate treatments that reduce survival and attachment of Diaphorina citri nymphs on infested curry leaves (Bergera koenigii). Decontamination of curry leaves infested with D. citri in relation to disinfectant (none or Pro-San), temperature (0, 40, and 50°C), and treatment duration (0, 5, 10, and 20 min) was examined using a split-split plot design. Experiments were performed three times. Treatment duration did not significantly affect D. citri nymph survival or removal (P > 0.2). Temperature and disinfectant each significantly affected D. citri nymph survival and removal (P < 0.031). The interaction of temperature and disinfectant was significant with respect to nymph survival (P < 0.0001) but did not significantly affect removal (P = 0.4589). Tissue damage was significantly affected by temperature (P = 0.0056), duration (P = 0.0023), the interaction of temperature and duration (P = 0.0320), and the interaction of disinfectant, temperature, and duration (P = 0.0410). Of the tre...
Multiple steady states in a radio frequency chlorine glow discharge

Multiple steady states have been observed in a 13.56 MHz chlorine glow discharge in a parallel plate radial flow reactor. Measurements of the flux and energy distribution of positive ions bombarding the electrode are reported along with radial profiles of atomic chlorine (Cl) concentration and etch rate of polysilicon for different states of the plasma. At the same operating conditions the plasma may exist in one of two states. In one state the plasma appeared radially uniform, resulting in relatively uniform radial Cl concentration profiles and etch rate. In the other state the plasma appeared radially nonuniform with a higher intensity central region (‘‘plasmoid’’). The etch rate and Cl concentration profiles were nonuniform in the presence of the plasmoid. The plasmoid generally appeared under conditions of high power and pressure and could be eliminated by adding noble gases and/or decreasing the electrode spacing. The multiple states may be a result of the strongly electronegative nature of the chlorine discharge.
Differential activities of rat and human lung glutathione S-transferase isoenzymes towards benzo(a)pyrene epoxides

Abstract The isoenzymes of human and rat lung glutathione S-transferase (GST) differ among themselves in their activities towards the epoxides of benzo(a)pyrene (BP). The Ya' and Yc-type subunits of rat lung GST exhibit maximum activities towards BP-4,5-oxide and BP-7,8-oxide suggesting that these two subunits are preferentially involved in the detoxification of highly reactive epoxides and diolepoxides of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The studies with human lung GST isoenzymes indicate that BP-4,5-oxide, and BP-7,8-oxide are preferred substrates for the cationic (pI 8.3) form of the enzyme. Identification of compounds which can selectively induce these isoenzymes of GST could prove useful as inhibitors of PAH induced neoplasia.
Auxin autonomy in cultured tobacco teratoma tissues transformed by an auxin-mutant strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

We have studied the mechanism of auxin autonomy in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) crowngall tissues transformed by the auxin-mutant (tms−) A66 strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Normally, tms− tobacco tumor tissues require the formation of shoots to exhibit auxin-independent growth in culture. We have isolated from tms− tobacco cells several stable variants that are fully hormone-independent and grow rapidly as friable, unorganized tissues, thus mimicking the growth and morphology of tms+ tobacco cells that produce high levels of auxin. However, none of the variants contained the high levels of auxin found in tms+ tumor cells. The variants could be divided into two classes with respect to their response to applied auxin. The first class was highly sensitive to applied auxin: low concentrations (1 μM) of α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) severely inhibited growth and markedly stimulated the accumulation of the ethylene precursor, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC). The second class of variants showed a low sensitivity to applied auxin: growth was promoted by concentrations of NAA up to 10 μM, and growth inhibition and high ACC levels were observed only at high NAA concentrations (100 μM). Unorganized variants with low auxin sensitivity were also isolated from a variant line with high auxin sensitivity. The isolation of tumor cells that exhibited the growth phenotype of tms+ cells while retaining the low auxin content and low auxin sensitivity of tms− cells indicates that full hormone autonomy, characteristic of wild-type crown-gall tumors, can be achieved by a mechanism that is independent of changes in the auxin physiology of the cells.
UDT: UDP-based data transfer for high-speed wide area networks

In this paper, we summarize our work on the UDT high performance data transport protocol over the past four years. UDT was designed to effectively utilize the rapidly emerging high-speed wide area optical networks. It is built on top of UDP with reliability control and congestion control, which makes it quite easy to install. The congestion control algorithm is the major internal functionality to enable UDT to effectively utilize high bandwidth. Meanwhile, we also implemented a set of APIs to support easy application implementation, including both reliable data streaming and partial reliable messaging. The original UDT library has also been extended to Composable UDT, which can support various congestion control algorithms. We will describe in detail the design and implementation of UDT, the UDT congestion control algorithm, Composable UDT, and the performance evaluation.
CRLB for likelihood functions with parameter-dependent support

In this paper we discuss the regularity conditions required for the classical Craḿer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for real-valued (nonrandom unknown) parameters to hold. It is shown that the commonly assumed requirement that the support of the likelihood function (LF) should be independent of the parameter to be estimated can be replaced by the much weaker requirement that the LF is continuous at the end points of its support. Parameter-dependent support of the LF arises when an unknown parameter is observed in the presence of additive measurement noise and the measurement noise probability density function (pdf) has a finite support. It is also pointed out that the commonly cited requirements of absolute integrability of the derivatives of the LF should be replaced by requirements on the log-LF (LLF). Some practical examples of finite-support measurement noises, which lead to parameter-dependent LF support, are discussed in light of the above. For the case where the LF is not continuous at the end points of its support, a new modified CRLB -designated as the Craḿer-Rao-Leibniz lower bound (CRLLB), since it relies on Leibniz integral rule - is presented and its use illustrated. The CRLLB is shown to provide valid bounds for a number of long-standing problems for which the CRLB was shown in the literature as not valid, in particular, for a uniformly distributed measurement noise.
Airflow Through Midlatitude Cyclones and the Comma Cloud Pattern

Abstract Airflow through a developing midlatitude disturbance is analyzed in a relative-wind isentropic system in order to provide insight into how the cloud pattern evolves into the familiar comma shape. The model presented makes use of various concepts such as that of the conveyor belt and explores the relationship between the configuration of the major airstreams and such features as the jet streams and the dry tongue. The model also relates vertical motion and precipitation to the origin and vertical displacement of the airstreams and attaches special significance to airstream boundaries, which manifest themselves as sharp discontinuities in cloud and weather patterns.
The Impact of Institutionalization on Voice and Openness

This article discusses the history of the Philosophy of Communication Division through the lens of identity groups as a way to focus on the social and political dynamics of academic interaction. It offers one person's story of the Division's origins, its development and the continuing importance and challenge of its contributions within the International Communication Division. “Power is OK as long as you don't inhale.”—Manfred Kets de Vries
PHRAGMOPLASTS IN CYTOKINESIS OF CEPHALEUROS PARASITICUS (CHLOROPHYTA) VEGETATIVE GELLS 1

Cytokinesis in apical cells of actively growing cultures of Cephaleuros parasiticus Karsten sporangiate thalli was examined with transmission electron microscopy. A massive, interzonal cytokinetic microtubule spindle is anchored at its poles to the medial surfaces of the daughter nuclei at telophase. Later, the daughter nuclei are widely separated and no longer associated with the interzonal spindle; however, the spindle retains its shape and becomes a distinct phragmoplast with an array of vesicles, presumably derived from dictyosomes, aligned in the division plane. Fusion of the vesicles gives rise to a thin cell plate. Some bundles of microtubules in the spindle appear to mark the sites of plasmodesmata formation, but no endoptasmic reticulum is directly involved in plasmodesmata formation. No infurrowing or phycoplast array of microtubules is involved in the cytokinesis. The relationship, if any. between the metaphase-anaphase mitotic microtubule system and the interzonal cytokinetic spindle has not been determined. Cephaleuros parasiticus isone of only four green algae now known to contain a higher plant-like phragmoplast and cytokinetic process. The observations reported can be interpreted as very strong evidence for a phylogenetic affinity between the Trentepohliaceae and the Charophyceae, but consideration of ulvophycean features of the Trentepohliaceae such as motile cell ultrastructure and life histories precludes unequivocal assignment of the family to either the Charophyceae or Ulvophyceae.
Mobilization of chromium from fly ash participates by aqueous systems modeling natural waters

Abstract Disposal of fly ash particulates in landfills or holding ponds is a potentially significant source of trace metals to the environment. Leaching of chromium from several fly ashes with 1 millimolar bicarbonate or 10 μg/ml ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid solutions mobilized between 1.3 and 4.1% of the total chromium after 15 days. The estimated annual environmental insult from this mobilization ranges from 3.4 x 107 g to 1.1 x 108 g Cr. The patterns of Cr release as a function of time indicate that the principle physiochemical factors responsible for the mobilization observed are: the chemical form of Cr in the ash, the matrix components with which Cr is associated, the chemical composition of the extracting solutions, and the spatial distribution of the chromium‐containing materials within the fly ash particulates.
Measuring Legislators' Policy Positions Roll-Call Votes and Preferences Among Pieces of Legislation

Numerous scholars have used roll-call votes to analyze legislative behavior and the impact of party and constituency on legislative behavior. It is argued in this article that roll-call votes provide an insufficient data base on which to determine the overall impact of party and constituency because they do not indicate a legislator's degree of support for legis lation. A number of findings presented support this argument. First, although legislative analyses often require the assumption that a legislator is indifferent between two pieces of legislation voted on in a similar manner, such an assumption appears theoretically and empirically unsound. Second, even though the scaling of roll-call votes implies legislators' preferences among the bills making up the scale, the preferences inferred from this scaling are not equivalent to legislators' stated preferences. Finally, policy positions estimated on the basis of roll-call votes are not equivalent to those estimated on the basis of legislators' stated pre...
Surface Analysis from Video Volumes for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Classification

3D shape reconstruction is often a necessary step to obtain geometric information from multiple 2D images for shape analysis. In this paper, a new shape analysis technique is proposed using surface features derived directly from the video volume of 2D images. It avoids the explicit 3D reconstruction process, which is often not very robust and accurate for surface feature analysis. Video volumes are created from stacks of 2D images taken from a pre-determined set of views. Surface features are extracted from the video volumes for shape analysis. This technique is applied to a medical diagnosis application for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) using images of mouse embryos.
Authors attain comparable or slightly higher rates of citation publishing in an open access journal (CytoJournal) compared to traditional cytopathology journals - A five year (2007-2011) experience.

Background: The era of Open Access (OA) publication, a platform which serves to better disseminate scientific knowledge, is upon us, as more OA journals are in existence than ever before. The idea that peer-reviewed OA publication leads to higher rates of citation has been put forth and shown to be true in several publications. This is a significant benefit to authors and is in addition to another relatively less obvious but highly critical component of the OA charter, i.e. retention of the copyright by the authors in the public domain. In this study, we analyzed the citation rates of OA and traditional non-OA publications specifically for authors in the field of cytopathology. Design: We compared the citation patterns for authors who had published in both OA and traditional non-OA peer-reviewed, scientific, cytopathology journals. Citations in an OA publication (CytoJournal) were analyzed comparatively with traditional non-OA cytopathology journals (Acta Cytologica, Cancer Cytopathology, Cytopathology, and Diagnostic Cytopathology) using the data from web of science citation analysis site (based on which the impact factors (IF) are calculated). After comparing citations per publication, as well as a time adjusted citation quotient (which takes into account the time since publication), we also analyzed the statistics after excluding the data for meeting abstracts. Results: Total 28 authors published 314 publications as articles and meeting abstracts (25 authors after excluding the abstracts). The rate of citation and time adjusted citation quotient were higher for OA in the group where abstracts were included (P < 0.05 for both). The rates were also slightly higher for OA than non-OA when the meeting abstracts were excluded, but the difference was statistically insignificant (P = 0.57 and P = 0.45). Conclusion : We observed that for the same author, the publications in the OA journal attained a higher rate of citation than the publications in the traditional non-OA journals in the field of cytopathology over a 5 year period (2007-2011). However, this increase was statistically insignificant if the meeting abstracts were excluded from the analysis. Overall, the rates of citation for OA and non-OA were slightly higher to comparable.
The diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis

Until recently, culture, microscopy, and serology have been the available methods for the diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis. While Coccidioides is frequently isolated by culture, special precautions must be taken because of the risk of laboratory infection and because Coccidioides is on the Select Agent list. Serology is useful but the sensitivity remains lower than desired. A commercially available test for coccidioidal galactomannan antigenuria now exists and appears useful for immunocompromised hosts with severe disease. Polymerase chain reaction assays targeting specific coccidioidal genes have demonstrated utility but are not commercially available. Moreover, their sensitivity and the best sample type remain unestablished.
A Mechanical Theory for the Effectiveness of Bracing for Medial Compartment Osteoarthritis of the Knee

Background: Evidence that knee braces used for the treatment of osteoarthritis mediate pain relief and improve function by unloading the joint (increasing the joint separation) remains inconclusive. Alternatively, valgus-producing braces may mediate pain relief by mechanically stabilizing the joint and reducing muscle cocontractions and joint compression. In this study, therefore, we sought to examine the degree to which so-called unloader braces control knee instability and influence muscle cocontractions during gait. Methods: Sixteen subjects with radiographic evidence of knee malalignment and medial compartment osteoarthritis were recruited and fitted with a custom Generation II Unloader brace. Gait analysis was performed without use of the brace and with the brace in neutral alignment and in 4° of valgus alignment. A two-week washout period separated the brace conditions. Muscle cocontraction indices were derived for agonist and antagonist muscle pairings. Pain, instability, and functional status were obtained with use of self-reported questionnaires, and the results were compared. Results: The scores for pain, function, and stability were worst when the knee was unsupported (the baseline and washout conditions). At baseline, nine of the sixteen patients reported knee instability and five of the nine complained that it affected their activities of daily living. Poor knee stability was found to be correlated with low ratings for the activities of daily living, quality of life, and global knee function and with increased pain and symptoms. Knee function and stability scored best with the brace in the neutral setting compared with the brace in the valgus setting. The cocontraction of the vastus lateralis-lateral hamstrings was significantly reduced from baseline in both the neutral (p = 0.014) and valgus conditions (p = 0.023), and the cocontraction of the vastus medialis-medial hamstrings was significantly reduced with the valgus setting (p = 0.068), as a result of bracing. Patients with greater varus alignment had greater decreases in vastus lateralis-lateral hamstring muscle cocontraction. Conclusions: When knees with medial compartment osteoarthritis are braced, neutral alignment performs as well as or better than valgus alignment in reducing pain, disability, muscle cocontraction, and knee adduction excursions. Pain relief may result from diminished muscle cocontractions rather than from so-called medial compartment unloading.
ARIADNE: a dynamic indoor signal map construction and localization system

Location determination of mobile users within a building has attracted much attention lately due to its many applications in mobile networking including network intrusion detection problems. However, it is challenging due to the complexities of the indoor radio propagation characteristics exacerbated by the mobility of the user. A common practice is to mechanically generate a table showing the radio signal strength at different known locations in the building. A mobile user's location at an arbitrary point in the building is determined by measuring the signal strength at the location in question and determining the location by referring to the above table using a LMSE (least mean square error) criterion. Obviously, this is a very tedious and time consuming task. This paper proposes a novel and automated location determination method called ARIADNE. Using a two dimensional construction floor plan and only a single actual signal strength measurement, ARIADNE generates an estimated signal strength map comparable to those generated manually by actual measurements. Given the signal measurements for a mobile, a proposed clustering algorithm searches that signal strength map to determine the current mobile's location. The results from ARIADNE are comparable and may even be superior to those from existing localization schemes.
A unified framework for clustering heterogeneous Web objects

We introduce a novel framework for clustering Web data which is often heterogeneous in nature. As most existing methods often integrate heterogeneous data into a unified feature space, their flexibilities to explore and adjust contributing effects from different heterogeneous information are compromised. In contrast, our framework enables separate clustering of homogeneous data in the entire process based on their respective features, and a layered structure with link information is used to iteratively project and propagate the clustered results between layers until it converges. Our experimental results show that such a scheme not only effectively overcomes the problem of data sparseness caused by the high dimensional link space but also improves the clustering accuracy significantly. We achieve 19% and 41% performance increases when clustering Web-pages and users based on a semi-synthetic Web log. Finally, we show a real clustering result based on UC Berkeley's Web log.
Expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors in epiphyseal chondrocytes induced to terminally differentiate with thyroid hormone.

A growing body of evidence suggests that systemic hormones and peptide growth factors may exert their effects on cell growth and differentiation in part through regulation of the cell division cycle. We hypothesized that thyroid hormone regulates terminal differentiation of growth plate chondrocytes in part through controlling cell cycle progression at the G1/S restriction point. Our results support this hypothesis by demonstrating that treatment of epiphyseal chondrocytes with thyroid hormone under chemically defined conditions results in the arrest of DNA synthesis and the onset of terminal differentiation, indicating that thyroid hormone is one factor capable of regulating the transition between cell growth and differentiation in these cells. This terminal differentiation process is associated with induction of the cyclin/cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21cip-1, waf-1 and p27kip1, suggesting that thyroid hormone may regulate terminal differentiation in part by arresting cell cycle progression throu...
PSAR-Align: improving multiple sequence alignment using probabilistic sampling

Summary: We developed PSAR-Align, a multiple sequence realignment tool that can refine a given multiple sequence alignment based on suboptimal alignments generated by probabilistic sampling. Our evaluation demonstrated that PSAR-Align is able to improve the results from various multiple sequence alignment tools. Availability and implementation: The PSAR-Align source code (implemented mainly in Cþþ) is freely available for download at
Gastrointestinal dendritic cells play a role in immunity, tolerance, and disease

Discrimination between beneficial commensal organisms and potentially harmful pathogens is a central component of the essential role that gut immune cells play in maintaining the balance between immune activation and tolerance. Antigen presenting cells (APC) are the key to this process, and the type of APC, including epithelial cells, B cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells (DC), in the gut is varied. The purpose of this review is to focus on the vast amount of data that has recently been generated on gastrointestinal dendritic cells in the context of their potential function and contribution to mucosal immunity, tolerance, and disease.
Pathophysiological consequences of atherosclerosis extend into the coronary microcirculation : restoration of endothelium-dependent responses by L-arginine

The goals of this study were 1) to quantitate the effects of atherosclerosis on physiological and pharmacological endothelium-dependent vasoactive responses in coronary arterioles downstream from arterial lesions and 2) to determine if administration of L-arginine, the precursor for endothelium-derived was induced in pigs, and vasomotor responses of isolated, cannulated coronary arterioles (30-70 microns in diameter) were assessed by measuring diameter changes in vitro. To assess pharmacological alterations of endothelium-dependent responses, dose-response curves were constructed to ADP, serotonin, and histamine. To assess physiological alterations in endothelial function, different flow rates were established across the vessel. Arteriolar diameters were measured in vessels from normal and atherosclerotic pigs under control conditions, after administration of L-arginine, and after endothelial denudation. In arterioles from normal pigs, administration of serotonin, histamine, or ADP produced dose-dependent vasodilation, which was abolished by endothelial denudation. In arterioles from atherosclerotic pigs, administration of histamine, serotonin, and ADP produced dilation at only the highest doses (10(-6)-10(-7) M), and the extent of dilation was only 20-30% of that observed in arterioles from normal pigs. Initiation of flow also produced vasodilation in arterioles from normal pigs that was completely abolished after endothelial denudation. In arterioles from atherosclerotic pigs, flow-induced responses were absent. These abnormal physiological and pharmacological responses (i.e., blunted vasodilation to pharmacological stimulation and to flow) were restored after administration of L-arginine for 40 minutes. The vascular responses after administration of L-arginine were not different from those observed under control conditions in arterioles from normal pigs. In addition, L-arginine did not restore vasodilation to the endothelium-dependent agonists in denuded segments. From these data in arterioles downstream from atherosclerotic lesions, we conclude that 1) the ED50 and maximal responses of endothelium-dependent vasodilation to ADP, histamine, and serotonin are attenuated; 2) the physiological response to flow, that is, flow-mediated endothelium-dependent vasodilation, is absent; and 3) the abnormality in arteriolar responsiveness during large vessel disease involves an impairment of the synthesis and/or release of endothelium-derived relaxing factor.
Management of Urethral Recurrence after Radical Cystectomy and Neobladder Creation by Urethroscopic Resection and Fulguration

The incidence of urethral recurrence after radical cystectomy has been reported to be 4 to 17%.l We describe a case in which urethral recurrence after cystectomy and neobladder creation was treated with urethroscopic resection and fulguration. CASE REPORT
Consumption of a High Fat Diet Impairs Reproductive Performance in Sprague-Dawley Rats

Rats made obese by cafeteria feeding have poor reproductive outcomes. To investigate this phenomenon in animals fed a more nutritionally adequate diet, female rats were fed either a high fat (HF) (modified AIN-76A, 35 g fat/100 g diet) or a control (C) (AIN-76A, 5 g fat/100 g diet), diet, beginning at 27 d of age. To assess reproductive performance, rats were studied at d 0, 5 and 18 of pregnancy and on d 3 of lactation. Pregnancy rates were significantly (P < 0.001) lower in the high fat-fed rats than in the control-fed rats (56.4 and 89.1%, respectively). There was no difference between groups in total pregnancy weight gain or the proportion of weight gained during pregnancy that was retained by the dam. High fat-fed dams tended to gain weight more rapidly early in gestation than control-fed dams and then less rapidly than control-fed dams during the last week of gestation. Litter number and pup weight at birth did not differ between groups, but of high fat-fed pups had significantly higher (P < 0.04) mortality rates than pups of control-fed dams (16.5 and 7.7%, respectively) over the first 3 d of life. Control-fed dams experienced the expected reduction (P < 0.05) in plasma insulin concentrations between the end of pregnancy and early lactation, but high fat-fed dams did not. Thus, physiological mechanisms controlling distribution of metabolic fuels may not be functioning properly in high fat-fed dams. Therefore, consuming a high fat diet reduces a rat's capacity to conceive and ability to maintain her litter during the perinatal period.
BCL-6-deficient mice reveal an IL-4-independent, STAT6-dependent pathway that controls susceptibility to infection by Leishmania major.

The BCL-6 gene negatively regulates Th2 responses as shown by the finding that BCL-6-deficient (BCL-6−/−) mice develop a lethal Th2-type inflammatory disease. The response of inbred mouse strains to infection with Leishmania major is under genetic control; BALB/c mice are susceptible and develop a progressive parasite burden, whereas most other common laboratory strains of mice are resistant to infection. We found that BCL-6−/− mice on a resistant genetic background (C57BL/6 × 129 intercrossed mice) were highly susceptible to L. major infection; they resembled BALB/c mice in terms of lesion size, parasite load, and the production of Th2 cytokines. BCL-6−/−IL-4−/− double-mutant mice were also susceptible to L. major infection and produced 10-fold higher levels of the Th2 cytokine IL-13 than IL-4−/− littermate controls. By contrast, BCL-6−/−STAT6−/− double-mutant mice were resistant to L. major infection despite also producing elevated levels of IL-13. These results show that STAT6 is required for susceptibility to L. major infection and suggest that IL-13 signaling through STAT6 may contribute to a nonhealing, exacerbated L. major infection.
Efficient simulation-based optimization of power grid with on-chip voltage regulator

IR-drop values of power grid can be reduced through inserting on-chip low-dropout voltage regulators (LDO). In this paper, we explore the optimization of LDOs to meet the IR-drop constraint, where the maximum IR-drop value is less than 10% of power supply. With Cholesky direct solver and SPICE, we propose a method to simulate power grid with LDOs. Based on the simulation method, we develop an efficient flow to optimize the number and locations of the LDOs. Effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the experimental results. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work optimizing the number and locations of LDOs to meet the IR-drop constraint.
Weed species radiation-use efficiency as affected by competitive environment

Abstract Plant canopy radiation-use efficiency (RUE), defined as unit of dry biomass produced per unit of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR), has been widely studied both in experimental and theoretical contexts because the use of this relationship greatly simplifies estimating biomass production in plant growth models. Previous studies have indicated that RUE may be sensitive to changes in the fractions of diffuse and direct radiation; RUE has been shown experimentally to increase under conditions of increased diffuse light caused either by atmospheric conditions or by shading from other plants in intercrops. Therefore, we hypothesized that weed species RUE would be greater for weeds grown in mixed weed–crop communities than for weeds grown in more uniform and less dense monotypic communities. To address this question, field experiments were conducted during 2001 and 2002 to determine the vegetative-stage RUE of giant ragweed, velvetleaf, woolly cupgrass, and wild-proso millet grown in m...
A Comparison of the Response Rates, Re Turn Times, Return Methods and Costs for Surveys Faxed and Mailed in Clubs

The study investigated the response rate for surveys utilizing fax technology and the standard mail system. The results of the study indicated that surveys sent and received through a fax machine to private club members had a higher response rate and were returned faster than those sent to private club members by the traditional postal system. This study indicated that private clubs should be able to use a fax machine to gather vital information and market research data using a short survey with repeat customers who were likely to have a fax machine and were within a local area phone number. The costs associated with mailing the surveys was 18.9% higher than faxing them.
Distinct Patterns of Neural Modulation during the Processing of Conceptual and Syntactic Anomalies

The aim of this study was to gain further insights into how the brain distinguishes between meaning and syntax during language comprehension. Participants read and made plausibility judgments on sentences that were plausible, morphosyntactically anomalous, or pragmatically anomalous. In an event-related potential (ERP) experiment, morphosyntactic and pragmatic violations elicited significant P600 and N400 effects, respectively, replicating previous ERP studies that have established qualitative differences in processing conceptually and syntactic anomalies. Our main focus was a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in which the same subjects read the same sentences presented in the same pseudorandomized sequence while performing the same task as in the ERP experiment. Rapid-presentation event-related fMRI methods allowed us to estimate the hemodynamic response at successive temporal windows as the sentences unfolded word by word, without assumptions about the shape of the underlying response function. Relative to nonviolated sentences, the pragmatic anomalies were associated with an increased hemodynamic response in left temporal and inferior frontal regions and a decreased response in the right medial parietal cortex. Relative to nonviolated sentences, the morphosyntactic anomalies were associated with an increased response in bilateral medial and lateral parietal regions and a decreased response in left temporal and inferior frontal regions. Thus, overlapping neural networks were modulated in opposite directions to the two types of anomaly. These fMRI findings document both qualitative and quantitative differences in how the brain distinguishes between these two types of anomalies. This suggests that morphosyntactic and pragmatic information can be processed in different ways but by the same neural systems.
Effect of Sesamex on Toxicities of Individual Pyrethrins

Individual pyrethrins, separated by column chromatography of natural pyrethrums, were tested topically against female and male house flies ( Musca domestica L.). Pyrethrin II, cinerin I and cinerin II were, respectively, about 58%, 23% and 25% as toxic as pyrethrin I. However, in combination with sesamex, the toxicity was increased 60-fold with cinerin I, 17-fold with pyrethrin in I, 13 to 22-fold with cinerin II and only 8-fold with pyrethrin II. An unique device of a micro-applicator was described.
A prospective evaluation of the impact of allopurinol in pediatric and adult IBD patients with preferential metabolism of 6-mercaptopurine to 6-methylmercaptopurine.

Abstract Background 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) is used for the induction and maintenance of remission of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). 6-MP is converted into 6-methylmercaptopurine (6-MMP) or 6-thioguanine nucleotides (6-TGN) intracellularly. Treatment response in IBD patients correlates with 6-TGN levels. This study prospectively evaluated the effect of allopurinol on 6-MP metabolites in adult and pediatric IBD patients. Additionally, we quantified the prevalence of preferential metabolism towards 6-MMP through a retrospective analysis of IBD patients. Methods Twenty patients (10 adult; 10 pediatric) with evidence of preferential metabolism towards 6-MMP, (6-TGN 5000 pmol/8 × 108 RBCs) were prospectively treated with allopurinol 100 mg daily and up to 100 mg of 6-MP. 6-MP dose was adjusted after a 3-week metabolite measurement. Results The median dose of 6-MP for adults decreased from 100 mg daily (range: 37.5–150 mg) to 25 mg daily (range: 12.5–50 mg). The median dose of 6-MP for pediatric patients decreased from 50 mg (range: 25–50 mg) to 10.7 mg (range: 10.7 to 21.4 mg). Mean 6-TGN levels in all subjects increased from 197.4 (± 59) to 284.8 (± 107) pmol/8 × 108 RBCs (p = 0.0005). Mean 6-MMP levels in all subjects decreased from a mean of 7719.8 (± 4716) to 404.8 (± 332) pmol/8 × 108 RBCs (p = 0.0004). There were no complications associated with allopurinol therapy. Eighty-eight (30.9%) of 285 IBD patients had evidence of preferential metabolism towards 6-MMP. The proportion of preferential metabolism was equal in adults and pediatric patients. Conclusion Our results indicate that the addition of allopurinol safely shifts metabolite production in both adult and pediatric IBD patients and that there is a high prevalence of preferential metabolism towards 6-MMP among IBD patients.
Cold atoms and cesium fountains at NRC

We present a progress report on laser-cooled cesium atoms at NRC, work which was started a few years ago in order to realize a cesium fountain frequency standard. We selected an acceleration with two-dimensional moving molasses, which can increase both the force and the interaction time by a factor of /spl radic/2 over the more common 1-D molasses scheme. This configuration also allows for trapping and cooling of atoms while previously launched atoms are still moving in the clock section of the system. We report measurements on the number of atoms, temperature, friction coefficient and spring constant of our magneto-optical trap and 1-D molasses for various conditions.