cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Utilizing Halide Exchange To Improve Control of Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Halide exchange during atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using mixed halide initiation systems, R−X/Cu−Y (X, Y = Cl or Br), was investigated. Model studies of mixed halide initiation systems (i.e., R−X/Cu−Y, X ≠ Y) demonstrated that exchange occurs rapidly at 90 °C, and there is a clear preference for alkyl chlorides to be formed in over alkyl bromides. This was attributed mainly to the carbon−chlorine bond being stronger than the corresponding carbon−bromine bond. This implies that, in ATRP with a mixed halide initiator/catalyst system, the bulk of the polymer chain ends are terminated by chlorine if [CuCl]0 ≥ [RBr]0. Examples of using this information to improve the control in ATRP of methyl methacrylate (MMA) are presented. It was shown that, when benzyl halides were used as the initiator in the ATRP of MMA, the rate of initiation was increased relative to the rate of propagation, thus providing better control by using the benzyl bromide/copper chloride mixed halide system. Better molecular w...
Type III hyperlipoproteinemic phenotype in transgenic mice expressing dysfunctional apolipoprotein E.

Abstract Transgenic mice were prepared that expressed a dysfunctional apo E variant, apo E (Arg-112, Cys-142), which is associated with dominant inheritance of type III hyperlipoproteinemia (type III HLP) in humans. Among eight founder mice, plasma apo E (Arg-112, Cys-142) levels varied 100-fold and directly correlated with plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels. On a normal chow diet, mice expressing high levels (> 70 mg/dl) of the dysfunctional apo E had grossly elevated plasma lipids, with cholesterol levels of up to 410 mg/dl and triglyceride levels of up to 1,210 mg/dl. Upon agarose electrophoresis, plasma from these mice demonstrated beta-very low density lipoproteins (beta-VLDL). Mice expressing low (< 2.5 mg/dl) or intermediate (21 mg/dl) levels of the apo E variant had much less severe hyperlipidemia and did not have beta-VLDL. Although the transgenic mouse beta-VLDL were enriched in cholesteryl esters compared with normal mouse VLDL, they were not as cholesterol enriched as human beta-VLDL from type III HLP subjects. Transgenic mouse beta-VLDL injected into normal mice were cleared from plasma at a significantly slower rate than normal mouse VLDL, demonstrating the impaired catabolism of beta-VLDL. Thus, transgenic mice expressing high levels of the dysfunctional apo E (Arg-112, Cys-142) variant have many characteristics of the human type III HLP phenotype and appear to be a suitable animal model for this disorder.
Endoscopic Stenting and Sphincterotomy of the Minor Papilla in Symptomatic Pancreas Divisum: Results and Complications

Pancreas divisum has been postulated as a cause of acute pancreatitis and a chronic pain syndrome in a small subgroup of patients and can be treated with endoscopic dorsal pancreatic duct stent placement and minor papilla sphincterotomy. Twenty patients (9 with at least one attack of idiopathic pancreatitis, and 11 with severe pancreatic-type pain) were treated endoscopically. Dorsal duct stents were placed in 19 patients with subsequent needle knife sphincterotomy of the minor papilla over the stent. Clinical response was judged by comparison of symptoms (using a 0-to-l0 scale and the patient's overall assessment). The symptom score improved from 9.3 to 5.1 in the pancreatitis group and from 9.3 to 5.7 in the pain group. A good clinical response was observed in 3 of 7 patients in the pancreatitis group and in 6 of 11 in the pain group at a mean follow-up of 22 months. Complications of sphincterotomy were limited to pancreatitis in 6 patients (29%), 5 mild and 1 moderate according to published criteria. No patient required more than 4 days hospitalization. Two of 39 stents migrated into the pancreas, and another stent fractured and remained lodged in the pancreas. Eight of 9 patients evaluated demonstrated new morphologic duct changes on follow-up pancreatograms. Endoscopic stenting and sphincterotomy of the minor papilla are feasible and may be effective in some patients with pancreas divisum but carries a significant complication rate. The subjective improvement in patients with chronic pain warrants further controlled study.
Optimizing deployment of Internet gateway in Wireless Mesh Networks

In a Wireless Mesh Network (WMN), Mesh Routers (MRs) are interconnected by wireless links and constitute a wireless backbone to provide ubiquitous high-speed Internet connectivity for mobile clients (MCs). The wireless backbone is tightly integrated with the Internet by some selected nodes called as Internet Gateways (IGWs). An IGW has more capabilities than a simple MR and is more expensive. In this paper, we address the IGW deployment problem which is shown to be NP-hard. We first formulate it as a linear program (LP) issue, then develop two heuristic algorithms: Degree based Greedy Dominating Tree Set Partitioning (Degree based GDTSP) and Weight based Greedy Dominating Tree Set Partitioning (Weight based GDTSP), for the purpose of cost-effective IGW deployment. We evaluate the effectiveness of these two algorithms by extensive simulations and comparisons with two major approaches.
A TH2− helper T-cell subset and the Tμ cell population: A comparison

Abstract The correspondence between the Fc markers and the TH 2 − markers on T cells was studied utilizing an autoantibody to a TH 2 − T-cell subset. This antibody was obtained from a patient with acquired agammaglobulinemia. Lymphocytotoxicity studies and analysis by fluorescence-activated cell sorting show that Tμ cells are enriched in the TH 2 − helper T cell subset defined by the autoantibody.
KNOTS WITH BRAID INDEX THREE HAVE PROPERTY-P

We prove that knots with braid index three in the 3-sphere satisfy the Property P conjecture.
Interplay between Structure-Specific Endonucleases for Crossover Control during Caenorhabditis elegans Meiosis

The number and distribution of crossover events are tightly regulated at prophase of meiosis I. The resolution of Holliday junctions by structure-specific endonucleases, including MUS-81, SLX-1, XPF-1 and GEN-1, is one of the main mechanisms proposed for crossover formation. However, how these nucleases coordinately resolve Holliday junctions is still unclear. Here we identify both the functional overlap and differences between these four nucleases regarding their roles in crossover formation and control in the Caenorhabditis elegans germline. We show that MUS-81, XPF-1 and SLX-1, but not GEN-1, can bind to HIM-18/SLX4, a key scaffold for nucleases. Analysis of synthetic mitotic defects revealed that MUS-81 and SLX-1, but not XPF-1 and GEN-1, have overlapping roles with the Bloom syndrome helicase ortholog, HIM-6, supporting their in vivo roles in processing recombination intermediates. Taking advantage of the ease of genetic analysis and high-resolution imaging afforded by C. elegans, we examined crossover designation, frequency, distribution and chromosomal morphology in single, double, triple and quadruple mutants of the structure-specific endonucleases. This revealed that XPF-1 functions redundantly with MUS-81 and SLX-1 in executing crossover formation during meiotic double-strand break repair. Analysis of crossover distribution revealed that SLX-1 is required for crossover suppression at the center region of the autosomes. Finally, analysis of chromosome morphology in oocytes at late meiosis I stages uncovered that SLX-1 and XPF-1 promote meiotic chromosomal stability by preventing formation of chromosomal abnormalities. We propose a model in which coordinate action between structure-specific nucleases at different chromosome domains, namely MUS-81, SLX-1 and XPF-1 at the arms and SLX-1 at the center region, exerts positive and negative regulatory roles, respectively, for crossover control during C. elegans meiosis.
The Success of Collaboration Resource Programs for Students with Disabilities in Grades 6 Through 8

This study examined collaboration practices of resource programs at middle/junior high school levels in southern California.' Participants were 124 resource teachers from 69 schools responding to a survey that asked about the collaboration model at their school site. Results indicate that resource programs at the middle/junior high school level are a combination of collaboration and traditional pull-out models. The majority of teachers viewed the collaboration model positively. Administration support was evident. Teacher attitude and teacher personality were ranked as more important than the degree of severity of the student's disability as important factors for a successful collaboration model. These results may have important implications for policy decisions regarding integration of students with disabilities into general education programs.
Nanotip electron gun for the scanning electron microscope

Experimental nanotips have shown significant improvement in the resolution performance of a cold field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM). Nanotip electron sources are very sharp electron emitter tips used as a replacement for the conventional tungsten field emission (FE) electron sources. Nanotips offer higher brightness and smaller electron source size. An electron microscope equipped with a nanotip electron gun can provide images with higher spatial resolution and with better signal-to-noise ratio. This could present a considerable advantage over the current SEM electron gun technology if the tips are sufficiently long-lasting and stable for practical use. In this study, an older field-emission critical dimension (CD) SEM was used as an experimental test platform. Substitution of tungsten nanotips for the regular cathodes required modification of the electron gun circuitry and preparation of nanotips that properly fit the electron gun assembly. In addition, this work contains the results of the modeling and theoretical calculation of the electron gun performance for regular and nanotips, the preparation of the SEM including the design and assembly of a measuring system for essential instrument parameters, design and modification of the electron gun control electronics, development of a procedure for tip exchange, and tests of regular emitter, sharp emitter and nanotips. Nanotip fabrication and characterization procedures were also developed. Using a "sharp" tip as an intermediate to the nanotip clearly demonstrated an improvement in the performance of the test SEM. This and the results of the theoretical assessment gave support for the installation of the nanotips as the next step and pointed to potentially even better performance. Images taken with experimental nanotips showed a minimum two-fold improvement in resolution performance than the specification of the test SEM. The stability of the nanotip electron gun was excellent; the tip stayed useful for high-resolution imaging for several hours during many days of tests. The tip lifetime was found to be several months in light use. This paper summarizes the current state of the work and points to future possibilities that will open when electron guns can be designed to take full advantage of the nanotip electron emitters.
Race, Neighborhood Context, and Strategies to Avoid Victimization Among Female Probationers and Parolees

An established body of literature shows that females have higher levels of fear than males. Research suggests that women typically resort to rather constraining beha- vioral actions that limit their participation in public life. However, it is unclear whether the strategies women use to avoid victimization are tied to community context, especially for high-risk populations, such as women offenders. We build from insights of previous research by examining what strategies female probationers and parolees use to avoid victimization and their perception of how effective such strategies are in keeping them safe, whether the subjective and objective measures of neighborhood context is related to women's strategies and whether the strategies used to avoid vic- timization vary by race and economic status.
Network security model for analyzing network-based control systems under denial of service attacks

Denial of service (DoS) attacks have become major threats to network security, which is pertinent to the deployment and performance of network-based control systems (NBCS). In this paper, we propose two queueing models to simulate the stochastic process of packet transmission under DoS attacks. The motivation is to quantitatively investigate how the attacks affect the performance of NBCS. The control system consists of a discrete PI controller (either event- or time-driven), a second-order plant, and two one-way delay vectors induced by networks. Experimental results indicate that the event-driven controller is more robust than the time-driven one under attacks. Model I DoS attacks (excessive packet loss) impair the performance, but do not destabilize the system with the event-driven controller. Model II DoS attacks (increased delay jitter) deteriorate the performance or even destabilize the system.
Identification of 28 DNA fragments that detect RFLPs in 13 distinct physical regions of the short arm of chromosome 5

Abstract A series of 175 lambda phage carrying human inserts isolated from a library that is specific for the short arm of human chromosome 5 (5p) have been regionally mapped on 5p using a deletion mapping panel of 16 human-hamster cell hybrids, each of which contains a chromosome 5 with a different deletion in the short arm. Seventy-five single copy DNA fragments were screened with 12 restriction enzymes for their ability to detect restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs). Twenty-eight of these DNA fragments, which are located in 13 distinct physical regions of 5p, were found to detect RFLPs. These DNA markers make it possible to construct a linkage map that will span the entire length of 5p and will allow the relationship between genetic and physical distance for this region of the genome to be examined at a high level of resolution.
A sex difference in synaptic efficacy at the laryngeal neuromuscular junction of Xenopus laevis

Under physiological conditions, the response of Xenopus laevis laryngeal muscle fibers to nerve stimulation is sexually differentiated; subthreshold potentials are common in males and rare in females. This sex difference in muscle fiber response is correlated with sex differences in vocal behavior. Quantal analyses at male and female laryngeal synapses were performed to determine if there is a sex difference in synaptic strength. Quantal content at laryngeal synapses is significantly higher in females than in males. Values for quantal content in males can be increased by raising extracellular calcium concentration. There is no sex difference in miniature endplate potential amplitude suggesting that ACh receptor number or properties are not different in the sexes. Sex difference in synaptic strength thus appear presynaptic in origin; transmitter release is less in males. Ultrastructural analyses of the laryngeal motor terminal indicate that there is no sex difference in the length of active zones or in the number of channels per length of active zone. Thus, ultrastructural characteristics of the laryngeal motor terminal do not account for the pronounced sex difference in quantal content.
Portable radio antenna performance in the 150, 450, 800, and 900 MHz bands 'outside' and in-vehicle

Portable radio antenna performance on the human body was measured for several different radio models in the 150, 450, 800, and 900 MHz. bands. In-vehicle measurements were made at an outdoor antenna range equipped with a vehicle turntable. All other measurements were made in an anechoic chamber. Tests were made at the head level, at the side-level swivel-type carry case, at the side-level belt-loop type carry case, and at the shoulder level with a speaker microphone antenna. A statistical analysis was made of the data for use in coverage propagation predictions, and system designs. The results of the statistical analysis are presented. >
QoS-aware data report scheduling in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks

Data reporting strategy in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks can be differentiated based on task-specific data gathering requirements. This paper presents a novel QoS-aware data report scheduling scheme, called QRS, that offers task-specific sensor node classification and class-based data reporting in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks. The QRS scheme performs two-phase scheduling algorithms to provide differentiated quality of service (QoS) to sensor nodes in different classes. In the first phase, time slots are divided into each data reporting round, defined for each class while, in the second phase, the sensor nodes in the same class will be allocated to particular schedules. The predefined number of sensor nodes, which are based on the class that the sensors belongs to, are assigned to the time slot(s). The QRS scheme is scalable as it is operated in a distributed manner and not limited to a specific channel access mechanism such as contention-based and schedule-based channel access.
Reliability of AcuGraph system for measuring skin conductance at acupoints

Objective There are many commercially available instruments for measuring electrical conductance, but there is little information about their reliability. The aim of this study was to quantify measurement variability and assess reliability of the AcuGraph system—a commonly used electrodermal screening device. Methods Four experiments were conducted to measure variability in electrical conductance readings obtained by the AcuGraph system. The first involved measuring known resistors. The second measured non-human organic matter. The third was a test–retest assessment of the Yuan-Source and Jing-Well points in 30 healthy volunteers who were measured by a single operator. The fourth was an interoperator reliability evaluation of seven acupuncturists at the Yuan-Source and Jing-Well acupoints on four individuals at two time points. Results Against known resistors, the AcuGraph had an average coefficient of variability (CV) of 1.8% between operators and test–retests. On non-human organic material the AcuGraph had an average CV of 0.9% and 2.8%. When a single operator tested 30 participants, the average reliability for the Yuan-Source points was 0.86 and 0.76 for Jing-Well points with a CV of 23.2% and 25.9% respectively. The average CV for the seven acupuncturists was 24.5% on Yuan-Source points and 23.7% on Jing-Well points. Conclusions The AcuGraph measures known resistors and organic matter accurately and reliably. Skin conductance at acupoints recorded by one operator was also reliable. There was less consistency in electrodermal recordings obtained by seven different operators. Operator training and technical improvements to the AcuGraph may improve consistency among operators.
Direct solubilization of enzyme aggregates with enhanced activity in nonaqueous media.

A protein solubilization method has been developed to directly solubilize protein clusters into organic solvents containing small quantities of surfactant and trace amounts of water. Termed “direct solubilization,” this technique was shown to solubilize three distinct proteins—subtilisin Carlsberg, lipase B from Candida antarctica, and soybean peroxidase—with much greater efficiencies than extraction of the protein from aqueous solution into surfactant-containing organic solvents (referred to as extraction). More significant, however, was the dramatic increase in directly solubilized enzyme activity relative to extracted enzyme activity, particularly for subtilisin and lipase in polar organic solvents. For example, in THF the initial rate towards bergenin transesterification was ca. 70 times higher for directly solubilized subtilisin than for the extracted enzyme. Furthermore, unlike their extracted counterparts, the directly solubilized enzymes yielded high product conversions across a spectrum of non-polar and polar solvents. Structural characterization of the solubilized enzymes via light scattering and atomic force microscopy revealed soluble proteins consisting of active enzyme aggregates containing approximately 60 and 100 protein molecules, respectively, for subtilisin and lipase. Formation of such clusters appears to provide a microenvironment conducive to catalysis and, in polar organic solvents at least, may protect the enzyme from solvent-induced inactivation. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;96:1030–1039. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Neural Bases of the Lexical Effect: An fMRI Investigation

The lexical effect is a phenomenon whereby lexical information influences the perception of the phonetic category boundary for stimuli from word--nonword continua. At issue is whether this effect is due to ‘‘top-down’’ influence of upper levels of processing on perceptual processing, or instead is due to decision-stage processes. In this study, brain activity was monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging as subjects performed a phonetic categorization task on items taken from 2 continua in which one end of the continuum was a real word and the other was not (giftkift and giss--kiss). If the lexical effect has a perceptual basis, modulation of activation should be seen as a function of the lexical effect in areas such as the superior temporal gyri (STG) which have previously been implicated in perceptual processing. In contrast, if the effect is purely due to decision-related factors, such modulation would be expected only in areas which have been linked to executive processes, such as frontal and midline structures. Modulation of activation as a function of the lexically biased shift in phonetic category boundary was observed in the STG bilaterally as well as in frontal and midline structures. This activation pattern suggests that the lexical effect has at minimum a perceptual component, in addition to an executive decision-related component. These results challenge the view that lexical effects on phonetic boundary placement are due solely to postperceptual, decisionstage processes, and support those models of language processing which allow for higher-level lexical information to directly influence the perception of incoming speech.
Parasites and Infectious Diseases: Discovery by Serendipity and Otherwise

The author of this book retells several of the famous stories of discovery in the field of vector-borne and parasitic diseases through the eyes of some of the most prominent researchers working in this field today. But Esch does not stop there—he goes on to connect these early stories with more recent watershed contributions as recounted through a series of interviews he references throughout the course of the book. For example, he describes the discovery of the African sleeping sickness agent, Trypanosoma gambiense, and the contributions in the early 1900s by Dutton, Castellani, and Bruce. He then moves on to more recent discoveries regarding immunity, antigenic variation, and the role of variable surface glycoproteins. He describes the seminal studies that were performed in this area as recounted through interviews with prominent parasitologists Dick Seed and Keith Vickerman. Through this process, Esch weaves a tapestry of the new and old as it relates to the history of important tropical diseases such as African typanosomiasis, malaria, yellow fever, HIV/AIDS, hookworm, and schistosomiasis, which continue to plague humankind. The book has a novel organization; the first 100 pages are devoted to a lengthy prologue in which the major content contributors, the disease experts Esch interviewed, are extensively quoted and even venerated, in a casual, entertaining, and well-deserving manner. Many who peruse this book will be pleasantly surprised by the colorful biographies of well-known parasitologists and vector-borne disease specialists, who some readers no doubt will know as friends, colleagues, collaborators, professors, or even former students. As the title suggests, there is an effort to locate threads of serendipity woven through the historical tapestry of discovery. The conclusions that emerge unsurprisingly are that serendipity has played a much less important role than one might naively surmise and that the qualities of hard work, rock-solid persistence, a keen mind, and the fortitude to swim against the academic tide have paid generous dividends. No doubt the attribution of specific recent hallmark contributions by key persons, many of whom are still active in the field today, will be met with some degree of controversy. Nevertheless, the book is interesting, educational, and enjoyable, a “must have” for every library of tropical medicine or medical history. Thumbs up to Esch.
Effects of environmental and task risk factors on workers' perceived sense of postural sway and instability

Abstract. The objective of this study was to evaluate workers' ability to detect changes in postural balance using a short questionnaire - the perceived sense of postural sway and instability (PSPSI) scale. Ratings of perceived sense of postural sway and instability for four simulated tasks were obtained from fifty-two healthy industrial workers and compared with objective measurements determined by a strain gauge type force platform. The simulated tasks were performed under various experimental conditions that may influence postural stability. It was found that subjects were able to perceive the changes in postural sway and instability due to the modification in peripheral vision, environmental lighting, workload, and surface firmness, as reflected by their PSPSI ratings. Results from this study indicate that the PSPSI scale is a promising tool, which provides a simple and valid method to evaluate the potential for loss of balance in the workplace. Keywords: Posture, balance, stability, perceived sense of postural instability
Mediated Immediacy A Language of Affiliation in a Technological Age

Evidence shows that computer-mediated communication has the potential to be used in ways that are important for relationship initiation, development, and maintenance. We know less about the communication practices that individuals use within various mediated channels. This article describes a series of studies addressing mediated forms of immediacy. Specifically, the research examines the various ways that individuals can foster psychological closeness via computer-mediated communication and older communication channels, and the relationship of those activities to outcomes in educational settings. Implications of this research are discussed for mediated communication practices as well as theory development.
Deconvolution of serum cortisol levels by using compressed sensing.

The pulsatile release of cortisol from the adrenal glands is controlled by a hierarchical system that involves corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) from the hypothalamus, adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) from the pituitary, and cortisol from the adrenal glands. Determining the number, timing, and amplitude of the cortisol secretory events and recovering the infusion and clearance rates from serial measurements of serum cortisol levels is a challenging problem. Despite many years of work on this problem, a complete satisfactory solution has been elusive. We formulate this question as a non-convex optimization problem, and solve it using a coordinate descent algorithm that has a principled combination of (i) compressed sensing for recovering the amplitude and timing of the secretory events, and (ii) generalized cross validation for choosing the regularization parameter. Using only the observed serum cortisol levels, we model cortisol secretion from the adrenal glands using a second-order linear differential equation with pulsatile inputs that represent cortisol pulses released in response to pulses of ACTH. Using our algorithm and the assumption that the number of pulses is between 15 to 22 pulses over 24 hours, we successfully deconvolve both simulated datasets and actual 24-hr serum cortisol datasets sampled every 10 minutes from 10 healthy women. Assuming a one-minute resolution for the secretory events, we obtain physiologically plausible timings and amplitudes of each cortisol secretory event with R2 above 0.92. Identification of the amplitude and timing of pulsatile hormone release allows (i) quantifying of normal and abnormal secretion patterns towards the goal of understanding pathological neuroendocrine states, and (ii) potentially designing optimal approaches for treating hormonal disorders.
Soil magnetism, an approach for examining archaeological landscapes

To investigate archaeological landscapes and the extent to which humans have influenced them, we have developed an innovative approach that employs complementary geophysical methods drawn from the fields of exploration geophysics and soil magnetism. Integrating soil magnetic techniques with exploration surveys and more standard archaeological procedures (i.e., topographic mapping, excavation, coring, and soil-chemical studies) at the Cahokia Mounds site has helped us to better understand the formation of this premier North American mound center and has also demonstrated a scientific methodology of great potential for subsurface investigations of archaeological terrains.
Error concealment of transform coded images with continuous QoS

Transmission of block-based transform coded images over lossy packet networks is subject to packet losses, causing blocks to be lost or damaged. We propose a new hybrid error concealment algorithm to achieve continuous QoS in terms of both image quality and reconstruction time. It integrates the dc concealment with the information-restoration scheme, and provides a continuous range of time-quality trade-offs by controlling percentage of the missing blocks to be reconstructed by the dc concealment. Extensive experimental results show that our approach works well for both homogeneous and textured images, and achieves high-quality images in short time.
Promoter polymorphisms in matrix metallopeptidase 1 and risk of cutaneous melanoma

Matrix metallopeptidase 1 (MMP1) is one of the interstitial collagens in the extracellular matrix metalloproteinase family and involved in tumour behaviours. However, there is no report on the role of genetic variation in MMP1 in risk of cutaneous melanoma (CM). We investigated the association between genotypes and haplotypes of seven reported MMP1 promoter polymorphisms [-1607G ins/del (2G/1G), -839G>A, -755T>G, -519A>G, -422A>T, -340A>G and -320T>C, genotyped by the TaqMan assay] and CM risk in 872 patients and 873 cancer-free controls. These seven polymorphisms were not in linkage disequilibrium among each other (r(2)<0.63). Compared to their common homozygous genotypes, the variant -519GG was associated with significantly decreased CM risk [adjusted odds ratio (OR)=0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.52-0.99], whereas variants -422TT and -320CC were associated with significantly increased CM risk (OR=1.50, 95% CI=1.11-2.03 and OR=1.72, 95% CI=1.05-2.81, respectively) after adjustment for age, sex, family history and sun-exposure-related risk factors. The number of risk alleles of these three polymorphisms was associated with CM risk in a dose-response manner (P(trend)=0.0002). In the stratification analysis, we found that the associations of these polymorphisms with CM risk were modified by some of the risk factors. Furthermore, the haplotypes Gdel-A-G-A-T-G-T and G-G-G-A-T-A-T were associated with significantly increased CM risk (ORs=1.56 and 2.13, 95% CIs=1.02-2.38 and 1.22-3.70, respectively). These findings suggest that MMP1 promoter polymorphisms may individually or jointly play roles in the development of CM.
A semiconductor YBaCuO microbolometer for room temperature IR imaging

The characteristics of infrared (IR) microbolometer arrays utilizing semiconducting YBaCuO and operating at room temperature are presented. Surface-micromachined structures in the form of 1/spl times/10 arrays of pixel size 40 /spl mu/m/spl times/40 /spl mu/m and 60 /spl mu/m/spl times/60 /spl mu/m as well as single pixels of various geometries were constructed. Using the chopped radiation from a broad-band IR source, the responsivity R/sub V/ of the sensor was measured to be as high as 10/sup 4/ V/W and detectivity D* to be /spl sim/2/spl times/10/sup 7/ cm Hz/sup 1/2//W for a thermal conductance G/spl sim/10/sup -5/ W/K between the detector and the substrate. The spectral response was found to be uniform over a range of 1-12 /spl mu/m. Silicon micromachining and ambient-temperature processing were employed to ensure compatibility and, therefore, potential integration with CMOS-based signal processing circuitry. Methods of enhancing the figures of merit are discussed.
Dye‐sensitized photopolymerizations of acrylic monomers in the presence of fibrous proteins

Dye-sensitized photopolymerizations of low concentrations (1–5%) of acrylic monomers proceed at 40°C., if fibrous proteins (keratin, fibroin or collagen) are suspended in solution. In the absence of dye (riboflavin or fluorescein) or fibrous protein no appreciable photopolymerization of monomer is observed at the short irradiation times (120 min.). Graft products containing 0.5–23% polymer are found. The quantity of grafted polymer introduced into the protein depends on the chemical nature and concentration of monomer, dye, and fibrous protein. Homopolymerization of monomer is observed to some extent in each graft polymerization. In the presence of oxygen an induction period ia found, but removal of oxygen from solution greatly retards these photo-polymerizations. Chemical and physical characterization of the protein–polymer products suggests that only a small number of initiation and grafting sites are present in the protein and that the grafted polymer partially resides within the protein matrix. We believe these photopolymerizations proceed via a free-radical pathway involving radicalabstraction of hydrogen from the protein by dye intermediates.
Preface: A Community of Players

The articles in this section were initially developed for and presented at the 2010 conference of the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association ( http://swtxpca.org/ ). The conference, which began as a small, regional meeting in the 1970s, has since become international in scope, with upwards of a thousand presentations delivered by participants from dozens of countries. Yet despite its size, the conference maintains a friendly, casual, and intellectually robust atmosphere.
Fanon's Rebel Fifty Years Later*

This article examines two milestones separated by eight months: the fifty-year anniversaries of Frantz Fanon’s passing and the independence of Jamaica. Although Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago each achieved independence from the United Kingdom the same year, the latter became a republic whereas the former, similar to the Bahamas, has remained a British Commonwealth polity. The article contends that Fanon, in an appropriation of Aime Cesaire, develops an archetypal figure of the Rebel as central to his overall political thought and one that, when applied at the macro-level to contemporary Jamaica, presents a challenge applicable to the heated discourse on whether Jamaica should become a republic. It explores Fanon’s Rebel, the independence-freedom distinction, the Rebel’s role in achieving freedom, and what Fanon would say today about the political future of late modern Jamaica under incumbent Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller.
Cell Lineage and Segmentation in Development

Studies of developmental cell lineage — that is of the fate of individual cells, or blastomeres, that arise in the early embryo — were begun in the 1870’s, in the context of the controversy then raging about Ernst Haeckel’s “biogenetic” law. The biogenetic law seemed to imply that cells of the metazoan blastula recapitulate the non-differentiated tissues of a remote sponge-like ancestor. Only after gastrulation would the germ layers — ectoderm, mesoderm, endoderm - be destined to form the highly differentiated tissues characteristic of more recent metazoan ancestors. This implication was tested by the founder of American experimental embryology, Charles O. WHITMAN (1887) [1]. By observing the cleavage pattern of early leech embryos — which is also the main experimental material of this brief review article — Whitman traced the fate of individual cells from the uncleaved egg to the germ-layer stage and concluded that, contrary to the implication of the biogenetic law, a characteristic postembryonic fate can be assigned to each identified blastomere and to the clone of its descendant cells. These findings suggested, moreover, that the differentiated properties that characterize a given cell of the mature animal are somehow determined by its genealogical line of descent from the egg.
New Positron-Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Imaging for Bone Metastases .

With the increase in new therapies to treat cancer, improved diagnostic tools are needed to help determine best treatment options. Many radiopharmaceuticals used with positron-emission tomography/computed tomography have been tested to evaluate solid cancers. Two of the newer radiopharmaceuticals are 18F sodium fluoride and radiolabeled choline. This article reviews these new technologies, providing background and potential clinical use.
An Experimental Study of Clutch Size of the American Coot

MUCH information on laying behavior has appeared in the literature since Phillips (1887) performed his classical experiment by removing eggs daily from a flicker's nest. Lack (1947, 1948a, 1954) suggests a variety of factors that might influence clutch size, and he believes all factors are related to the maximum number of young a pair can rear successfully. Lack's ideas are based on studies of closely related species that nest over wide geographic areas. Not all workers agree with Lack's theory on food as the mechanism for controlling clutch size. Skutch's (1949) observations on tropical nesting birds indicate that these birds rear fewer young than they can nourish. Wynne-Edwards (1962) proposes that populations are regulated by social behavior before food resources are depleted. The differences of opinion existing between workers may be attributable to different mechanisms that are effective in regulating animal populations in varying degrees under a variety of conditions (Weins, 1966). Experimental studies of clutch size have been conducted on oceanic birds that are determinate layers. Clutch size has been manipulated in Laysan (Diomedia immutabilis) and Black-footed Albatrosses (D. nigripes) by Rice and Kenyon (1962) and in North Atlantic Gannets (Sula bassana) by Nelson (1964). I know of no reports in the literature that describe responses to manipulations of clutch size of indeterminate layers after the clutch is complete and incubation has started. American Coots (Fulica americana) are indeterminate layers (Sooter, 1941) and both sexes normally incubate before the clutch is complete. The eggs hatch over a period of several days, and both sexes brood and feed the young. To gain an insight into the mechanism controlling clutch size in coots, the clutch was changed by adding or removing eggs during incubation after the clutch was complete. The manipulations of clutch size provided information on the number of eggs coots can incubate successfully and the number of young they can rear successfully.
Worlds of Work: Changing Landscapes of Production and the New Geographies of Opportunity

This paper provides a critical overview of major trends impacting labor standards in the global economy. On the production side, these include the increasing financialization of capital, internationalization of production networks, and informalization of employment. These processes interact with changes within labor markets resulting from a doubling of the number of workers who comprise the labor pool available within the capitalist system as well as increases in international migration. The paper concludes by considering emerging approaches that are being developed by workers' rights organizations, labor unions, and advocacy organizations to organize workers' and improve labor protections.
The breakpoint of a large deletion causing hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin occurs within an erythroid DNA domain remote from the beta-globin gene cluster.

The DNA juxtaposed to the gamma-globin genes as a result of a large deletion associated with hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) was studied to define the role it may play in maintaining active expression of these genes in adult erythroid cells. The DNA located immediately 3′ to the deletion breakpoint was found to function as an enhancer element in gene transfer experiments and to be specifically hypomethylated in normal erythroid cells of both fetal and adult origin. This DNA also contains a long open reading frame encoding a polypeptide chain 292 amino acids in length. Therefore, in this form of HPFH (HPFH-1), the continued expression of gamma-globin genes in adult life may result from the inclusion of these genes within a new chromosomal domain that is potentially transcriptionally active in adult erythroid cells. The 3′ breakpoint of another large deletion causing delta beta thalassemia rather than HPFH was also identified. This deletion (Spanish G gamma A gamma (delta beta) degrees thalassemia) is nearly identical in size and location to that of HPFH- 1, but extends an additional 8.5 to 9 kb in the 3′direction, and therefore results in loss of the sequences near the 3′ breakpoint of HPFH-1. Thus, the presence of these sequences appears to be important for the expression of the HPFH phenotype.
Partial purification of thrombopoietin from the plasma of thrombocytopenic rabbits

Partially purified thrombopoiesis-stimulating activity was prepared from the plasma of thrombocytopenic rabbits using ammonium sulfate precipitation and DEAE cellulose, Sephadex, and carboxymethyl cellulose chromatography. The protein fraction precipitated by an ammonium sulfate saturation of 60%-80%, previously shown to contain thrombopoiesis-stimulating activity, was used as starting material. Column chromatography was carried out at room temperature at pH 5.6. Under these conditions, thrombopoiesis-stimulating activity (thrombopoietin) was retained by DEAE cellulose (0/03 M citrate- phosphate buffer) and carboxymethyl cellulose (0/003 M citrate- phosphate buffer), and eluted with 0.4 M NaCl. Thrombopoietin was retarded by Sephadex G-100; the ratio of the elution volume to the void volume was 1.32:1. Immunoelectrophoretic analysis of partially purified thrombopoietin indicated that following removal of most of the albumin by DEAE chromatography, only proteins with the mobilities of beta- globulins and albumin and traces of other anodally migrating proteins were detectable in the fractions that contained thrombopoiesis- stimulating activity. Thrombopoietin was not dialyzable and was stable from at least pH 5.6 to 7.5. It was approximately 1000-fold purified following sequential chromatography with DEAE and carboxymethyl cellulose. Although the three fractions described reproducibly stimulated thrombopoiesis, as measured by increased levels of selenomethionine-75Se (75SeM) in the circulating platelets, platelet counts did not increase.
Endonuclease EEPD1 Is a Gatekeeper for Repair of Stressed Replication Forks

Replication is not as continuous as once thought, with DNA damage frequently stalling replication forks. Aberrant repair of stressed replication forks can result in cell death or genome instability and resulting transformation to malignancy. Stressed replication forks are most commonly repaired via homologous recombination (HR), which begins with 5' end resection, mediated by exonuclease complexes, one of which contains Exo1. However, Exo1 requires free 5'-DNA ends upon which to act, and these are not commonly present in non-reversed stalled replication forks. To generate a free 5' end, stalled replication forks must therefore be cleaved. Although several candidate endonucleases have been implicated in cleavage of stalled replication forks to permit end resection, the identity of such an endonuclease remains elusive. Here we show that the 5'-endonuclease EEPD1 cleaves replication forks at the junction between the lagging parental strand and the unreplicated DNA parental double strands. This cleavage creates the structure that Exo1 requires for 5' end resection and HR initiation. We observed that EEPD1 and Exo1 interact constitutively, and Exo1 repairs stalled replication forks poorly without EEPD1. Thus, EEPD1 performs a gatekeeper function for replication fork repair by mediating the fork cleavage that permits initiation of HR-mediated repair and restart of stressed forks.
Two-way real time multimedia stream authentication using physical unclonable functions

Multimedia authentication is an integral part of multimedia signal processing in many real-time and security sensitive applications, such as video surveillance. In such applications, a full-fledged video digital rights management (DRM) mechanism is not applicable due to the real time requirement and the difficulties in incorporating complicated license/key management strategies. This paper investigates the potential of multimedia authentication from a brand new angle by employing hardware-based security primitives, such as physical unclonable functions (PUFs). We show that the hardware security approach is not only capable of accomplishing the authentication for both the hardware device and the multimedia stream but, more importantly, introduce minimum performance, resource, and power overhead. We justify our approach using a prototype PUF implementation on Xilinx FPGA boards. Our experimental results on the real hardware demonstrate the high security and low overhead in multimedia authentication obtained by using hardware security approaches.
Is back-electron transfer process in Betaine-30 coherent?

Abstract The possible role of coherent vibrational motion in ultrafast photo-induced electron transfer remains unclear despite considerable experimental and theoretical advances. We revisited this problem by tracking the back-electron transfer (bET) process in Betaine-30 with broadband pump-probe spectroscopy. Dephasing time constant of certain high-frequency vibrations as a function of solvent shows a trend similar to the ET rates. In the purview of Bixon-Jortner model, high-frequency quantum vibrations bridge the reactant-product energy gap by providing activationless vibronic channels. Such interaction reduces the effective coupling significantly and thereby the coherence effects are eliminated due to energy gap fluctuations, making the back-electron transfer incoherent.
A Speckle Duplicity Survey of the Hyades Cluster

Due to its proximity to the Sun, the Hyades serves the critical role of luminosity calibration of all cluster main sequences, and hence is one of the lower rungs in the cosmic distance ladder. We attempt here to use the enhanced capabilities of speckle interferometry, in comparison with classical techniques, to add to the list of binary and multiple stars in the Hyades. New systems will not only eventually help to improve our knowledge of the cluster distance, but they will also help further our understanding of the formation and evolution of binary and multiple stars in the cluster environment.
Synthesis of the ABC Substructure of Brevenal by Sequential exo-Mode Oxacyclizations of Acyclic Polyene Precursors

Exploratory studies on the sequential exo-mode oxacyclizations of acyclic polyene precursors have provided a substantial substructure of brevenal, including the fused tricyclic polyether with stereochemical patterns consistent with the AB and BC ring fusions. The synthesis of acyclic substrates featured two variations of Cr(II)/Ni(II) couplings for preparing 1,1-disubstituted allylic alcohols. A sequence of iodine-promoted cycloetherification, base-promoted intramolecular conjugate addition, and mercury-promoted cycloetherification produced the tricyclic substructure.