cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hierarchical integration across multiple timescales in human auditory cortex

Abstract To derive meaning from natural sounds, the brain must integrate information across tens to hundreds of milliseconds. But it is unknown how different regions and hemispheres of human auditory cortex collectively integrate across multiple timescales. To answer this question, we developed a novel method to estimate integration periods and applied this method to intracranial recordings. We show that human auditory cortex integrates across time hierarchically, with three-fold longer integration periods in non-primary vs. primary regions, but no difference between hemispheres. Moreover, we show that selectivity for categories, such as speech and music, is restricted to electrodes with long integration periods. These findings suggest that short-term structure in natural sounds is analyzed by general-purpose acoustic mechanisms in primary auditory cortex, and then integrated over long timescales to form category-specific representations in non-primary regions. Our study thus reveals how the human brain constructs abstract representations of sound by integrating across multiple timescales.
The Use of Penalized Regression Analysis to Identify County-Level Demographic and Socioeconomic Variables Predictive of Increased COVID-19 Cumulative Case Rates in the State of Georgia

Systemic inequity concerning the social determinants of health has been known to affect morbidity and mortality for decades. Significant attention has focused on the individual-level demographic and co-morbid factors associated with rates and mortality of COVID-19. However, less attention has been given to the county-level social determinants of health that are the main drivers of health inequities. To identify the degree to which social determinants of health predict COVID-19 cumulative case rates at the county-level in Georgia, we performed a sequential, cross-sectional ecologic analysis using a diverse set of socioeconomic and demographic variables. Lasso regression was used to identify variables from collinear groups. Twelve variables correlated to cumulative case rates (for cases reported by 1 August 2020) with an adjusted r squared of 0.4525. As time progressed in the pandemic, correlation of demographic and socioeconomic factors to cumulative case rates increased, as did number of variables selected. Findings indicate the social determinants of health and demographic factors continue to predict case rates of COVID-19 at the county-level as the pandemic evolves. This research contributes to the growing body of evidence that health disparities continue to widen, disproportionality affecting vulnerable populations.
Kathryn Warner, Following in the Footsteps of Edward II: A Historical Guide to the Medieval King: Philadelphia, PA: Pen & Sword, 176 pp., $24.95, ISBN 978-1526732934, Publication Date: September 2019

In recent years, Kathryn Warner has written prolifically on the reign of Edward II, producing several scholarly articles, as well as biographies of the king himself; his queen, Isabella of France; ...
“Don’t Be Mean” and Other Lessons from Children’s Plays of the Federal Theatre Project

Children’s theater in the 1930s seldom engaged with the most controversial political rhetoric of its time centered on issues of labor justice, anti-racism, and anti-fascism. This essay looks at three children’s plays of the Federal Theatre Project (1935–1939) that did engage to investigate how children’s play and childhood imagination vanquish forces of violence, oppression, and inequality.
Transformative Potential of Managed Retreat As Climate Adaptation

Managed retreat in response to climate change does not inherently lead to societal transformation. Assessing whether retreat has been transformative requires consideration of what or who is transformed, at what scale, and in what ways. It also requires nuanced consideration of relative spatial and temporal scale, domain of change, and implications for procedural and distributive justice while recognizing historical injustices and opportunities for restorative action. Current practices show managed retreat has not always been transformative in ways that promote justice. Nevertheless, retreat — as both a concept and practice — has potential to change societal perceptions of climate risk, challenge techno-optimistic in situ adaptations, and foreground issues of equity as a primary concern in adaptation.
A Review of Salmon Spawner-Recruitment Analysis: The Central Role of the Data and Its Impact on Management Strategy

Management of anadromous salmon stocks is usually based on an estimate of the spawner-recruitment relationship. A wide variety of estimation approaches have been developed, from simple to complex, ...
Postoperative seizures following endoscopic third ventriculostomy and choroid plexus cauterization: a case series.

OBJECTIVE In this study, the authors sought to investigate variables associated with postoperative seizures following endoscopic third ventriculostomy and choroid plexus cauterization (ETV/CPC) for treatment of pediatric hydrocephalus. METHODS A retrospective analysis of 37 patients who underwent ETV/CPC for treatment of hydrocephalus at an academic medical center from September 2016 to March 2021 was conducted. Demographics, etiology of hydrocephalus, operative details, electroencephalography (EEG) data, MRI findings, need for subsequent procedures, perioperative laboratory tests, medical history, and presence of clinical postoperative seizures were collected. Postoperative seizures were defined as clinical seizures within 24 hours of surgery. Eighteen patients received levetiracetam intraoperatively as well as over the next 7 days postoperatively for seizure prophylaxis. RESULTS Of 37 included patients, 9 (24%) developed clinical seizures within 24 hours after surgery, 5 of whom subsequently had electroclinical seizures captured on video-EEG. The clinical seizures in 4 of those 5 patients (80%) may have been associated with the hemisphere of the brain through which the endoscope was introduced. The median corrected age of the cohort was 3.4 months. The median corrected age of patients who did not develop postoperative seizures was 2.3 months compared with 0.7 months for patients who did develop postoperative seizures (p > 0.99). Postoperative seizures occurred in 43% (3/7) of prenatally repaired myelomeningocele patients versus 29% (2/7) of postnatally repaired myelomeningocele patients. Of the 18 patients who received prophylactic levetiracetam, none (0%) developed postoperative seizures compared with 9 of the 19 patients (47%) who did not receive prophylactic levetiracetam (p = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS Postoperative seizures were recorded in 24% of the pediatric patients who underwent ETV/CPC for hydrocephalus, which is higher than previously reported rates in the literature of 5%. Since 80% of the postoperative electrographic seizures may have been associated with the hemisphere through which the endoscope was introduced, the surgical entry site may contribute to postoperative seizure development. In patients who received prophylactic perioperative levetiracetam, the postoperative seizure incidence dropped to 0% compared with 47% in those who did not receive prophylactic perioperative levetiracetam. This finding indicates that the use of prophylactic perioperative levetiracetam may be efficacious in the prevention of clinical seizures in this patient population.
A Defense of Abortion: The Conception Criterion

OVERVIEW The first claim needed to sustain the rights-based argument against abortion maintains that the (typical) human fetus has a right to life. A number of distinct arguments can be made in defense of this claim, but all stem in one way or another from a common idea: that you and I have this right, and that we are related to human fetuses in important ways in which we are not related to dogs, trees, ecosystems, and other possible objects of moral concern. The challenge facing the proponent of this claim, then, is to identify specifically what the salient relationship is between the human fetus and us and to explain which fetuses it shows to have this right and how it shows this. This chapter will consider arguments of this form that attempt to show that the human fetus acquires the right to life at the moment of its conception, a claim that I will refer to as the conception criterion. I will argue that none of the arguments for the conception criterion that have thus far been proposed is satisfactory, and that this can be shown on terms that critics of abortion can and do accept. Some of the arguments that have been proposed in favor of the conception criterion, particularly some of the arguments treated relatively early in this chapter, are not especially powerful, and I devote relatively little space to responding to them.
Do Virtual Field Quanta Follow Geodesics

We address this question within the framework of quantum fields in curved space. We compute the effects of gravitational curvature on phenomena which appear because of quantum fluctuations of the vacuum field, specifically the Casimir force. The Casimir force is a purely quantum electrodynamic phenomenon, it is the result of zero point fluctuations of the vacuum field [1]. Experiments have provided tentative verification of the Casimir force [2]. Because of its nature the Casimir force provides a laboratory where concepts of quantum fields in curved space may be tried out both computationally and experimentally, as a precursor to attempts at quantizing gravity. In this note I will describe our derivation of an expression for the Casimir force in the Schwarzschild metric.
Isolation and characterization of the rat liver actin N-acetylaminopeptidase.

Abstract Actins from most eukaryotes undergo a unique post-translational modification of the amino terminus called "processing." Processing consists of the removal of an amino-terminal Ac-Met or Ac-Cys to leave an acidic amino-terminal residue. We have previously demonstrated that this reaction is not catalyzed by the ribosomally associated methionine aminopeptidase or by other previously described acetylaminopeptidases. Here we present the isolation and characterization of the actin N-acetylaminopeptidase (ANAP) from rat liver. A five-step purification protocol achieves a 4100-fold purification of the enzyme with an overall 8% recovery of activity. ANAP is a 77-kDa monomer with a pI of 4.6. Using unprocessed yeast actin as a substrate, the Km of ANAP is 3.5 microM. Purified ANAP was used to generate a polyclonal antibody. The antibody has been used along with activity assays to demonstrate the presence of ANAP in a variety of rat tissues. Finally, evidence is presented that in mammals, ANAP may function with a second, as yet unpurified, component to process actin amino termini.
The comparison of oxalic acid production in vivo and in vitro by virulent and hypovirulent Cryphonectria (Endothia) parasitica

Abstract The relation between oxalic acid production in liquid broth and in infected apple tissue during virulence assays was determined for Michigan and Italian strains of Cryphonectria parasitica with or without cytoplasmic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Two strains without dsRNA and considered virulent produced more oxalic acid in broth than did their dsRNA-containing near-isogenic counterparts. In contrast, five dsRNA-containing strains produced more oxalic acid per gram of infected apple fruit than did the dsRNA-free strains even though the lesion size produced by most of the dsRNA-containing strains was relatively small when compared to their dsRNA-free counterparts. One dsRNA-containing isolate (M14), judged virulent, produced a relatively large lesion in the apple fruit virulence assay, but oxalic acid production by this strain was similar to that of dsRNA-free virulent strains in both culture and apple fruit. Thus, the presence of dsRNA did not consistently confer avirulence, and the amount of oxalic acid production was positively associated with virulence only in broth, not in diseased plant tissue.
A note on the complex matrix procrustes problem

This note outlines an algorithm for solving the complex “matrix Procrustes problem”. This is a least-squares approximation over the cone of positive semi-definite Hermitian matrices, which has a number of applications in the areas of Optimization, Signal Processing and Control. The work generalises the method of [1], who obtained a numerical solution to the real-valued version of the problem. It is shown that, subject to an appropriate rank assumption, the complex problem can be formulated in a real setting using a matrix dilation technique, for which the method of [1] is applicable. However, this transformation results in an over-parametrisation of the problem and, therefore, convergence to the optimal solution is slow. Here an alternative algorithm is developed for solving the complex problem, which exploits fully the special structure of the dilated matrix. The advantages of the modified algorithm are demonstrated via a numerical example.
Portugal e Brasil: Ana de Castro Osório e a higienização social como forma de preservação da identidade nacional no primeiro quartel do século XX

Resumo. A obra de Ana de Castro Osorio (1872–1935)—escritora, activista dos direitos das mulheres e uma figura de destaque da cultura luso-brasileira—apela ao alargamento da educacao para todas as mu-lheres. A autora enaltece particu­larmente o papel das burguesas enquanto educadoras das futuras geracoes de republicanos, logo sugere que organizem campanhas para eliminacao do analfa­betismo, da prostituicao e do crime. Os seus romances mostram que esse com­promisso nacional nao era restrito a Portugal mas extensivo as novas comunida­des portuguesas estabelecidas no Brasil no inicio do seculo XX. Evitar a miscigenacao entre os portugueses residentes nessas comunidades e as pessoas oriundas de outros paises europeus que chegavam a ex-colonia era uma priori­dade, de modo a que a genetica e cultura lusas permanecessem do outro lado do Atlântico. A escrita de Castro Osorio e fruto de uma agenda nacionalista repu­blicana que deseja fazer de Portugal uma potencia mais forte a nivel mundial. Abstract. Ana de Castro Osorio (1872–1935)—writer, women’s rights advocate, and a prominent personality in Luso-Brazilian culture—urges the development of an education system for all women. She argues that bourgeois mothers should be responsible for the education of future generations; therefore, they should organize campaigns against illiteracy, illnesses, and crime in order to maintain the nation’s identity through their role in the prevention of a deterioration of distinctive racial traits. Her novels show that this national agenda was not limited to Portugal but it was extended to new Portuguese immigrant communities that had been established in Brazil at the beginning of the twentieth century. She was par-ticularly concerned with themes on how to avoid miscegenation among the Portuguese and other Euro-peans arriving in Portugal’s ex-colony. The author’s discourse stems from a nationalistic and republican agenda wishing to make Portugal a stronger power worldwide.
Notes on Simple Modules over Leavitt Path Algebras

Given an arbitrary graph E and any field K, a new class of simple left modules over the Leavitt path algebra L of the graph E over K is constructed by using vertices that emit infinitely many edges. The corresponding annihilating primitive ideals are described and is used to show that these new class of simple L-modules are different from(that is non-isomorphic to) any of the previously known simple modules. Using a Boolean subring of idempotents induced by paths in E, bounds for the cardinality of the set of distinct isomorphism classes of simple L-modules are given. We also append other information about the Leavitt path algebra L(E) of a finite graph E over which every simple left module is finitely presented.
A common theme in endothelial activation Insights from the structural analysis of the genes for E-selectin and VCAM-1.

An important early step in the development of an inflammatory infiltrate is the induction of new endothelial cell surface proteins. Cytokine-induced expression of endothelial-leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (E-selectin or ELAM-1) may mediate neutrophil adhesion to endothelium, whereas induced expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1) may be important in the adhesion of mononuclear cells. Both the corresponding genes are transcriptionally regulated by the inflammatory cytokines. Structural analysis of the promoters of these genes reveals binding sites for the transcription factor nuclear factor κB (NF-κB). Activation of the pleiotropic mediator NF-κB in endothelial cells could coordinate the expression of numerous endothelial products that are important in endothelial activation, including some cell surface adhesion proteins, cytokines, growth factors, and components of the coagulation system.
Market Definition: Impossible and Counterproductive

In recent articles, I have advanced a number of criticisms of the market definition/redefinition paradigm, chief among them that market definition is impossible and counterproductive. First, there is no valid way to infer market power from market shares in redefined (non-homogeneous-goods) markets. Second, one cannot choose which market definition is superior without already having in hand one’s best estimate of market power, rendering the exercise pointless. Worse, market power inferences in the chosen market are inferior to the best estimate with which one began. After elaborating these points, this Essay applies them to the three main settings in which the hypothetical monopolist test is employed in various jurisdictions’ merger guidelines, showing this test to be counterproductive in every instance. Finally, it addresses reasons that some are nevertheless reluctant to abandon market definition altogether.
Social Organization as the Framework for Interpreting Demographic Measures of Urban Emigration among the Canela of South Central Maranhão, Brazil

Resumen Este trabajo procura indagar en las razones por las cuales, a pesar de decadas de familiaridad, oportunidad y establecimiento de redes sociales que conectan areas urbanas y rurales, solo una fraccion de los casi 2.000 Ramkokamekra Canela del Maranhao, Brasil, se ha trasladado a las ciudades. La evidencia historica y etnografica resalta la importancia de las interacciones con vecinos regionales y con autoridades estaduales y federales para lograr la supervivencia de una tribu. La historia de estas interacciones regionales demuestran que las mitades con clases de edad y la autoridad derivada de la posicion jerarquica dentro de dichos grupos continuan siendo cauces para la influencia colectiva y personal dentro del ambito urbano. Dentro de la economia politica regional, el sistema ceremonial Canela produce individuos de elevado estatus que sirven de intermediarios con la elite local no-indigena. La organizacion ceremonial configura las motivaciones personales y, al mismo tiempo, las formas organizacionales que reunen los fondos sociales distribuidos por el gobierno federal y estadual, y el dinero resultante de la venta de recursos naturales y productos de las tierras indigenas. Este trabajo analiza como estos factores desincentivan la migracion.
The Old-Age Style and its Artists

The old-age style is well-known among art historians, but has rarely been recognized by psychologists despite its bearing on late-life creativity. Untrained subjects' ability to perceive an old-age style, and indirectly, the identification of its artists, were investigated in five separate studies. One hundred subjects judged twenty-four pairs of young-old art on five aspects of the old-age style. Fifteen pairs (63%) differed from one another across the tasks, and suggested that the following historical artists have an old-age style: Bellows, Cole, Eakins, Goya, Guardi, Innes, Kirchner, Klee, Mondrian, Monet, Picasso, Pissaro, Reynolds, Sargent, and Tobey. In contrast, young-old pairs by nine artists did not sufficiently differ, suggesting they did not have an old-age style: Copley, Corinth, Hoffman, Kline, Leger, Manet, Marin, Stuart, and Tiepolo. Several other measures on which young-old art were compared, except for canvas size, did not differentiate the pairs. The applicability of the old-age style to...
Interactions of cytokines, growth factors, and proteases in acute and chronic wounds

A healing wound represents a complex series of interactions between cells, soluble mediators, and extracellular matrix. Within this multifaceted environment, there are multiple regulatory points which control the ordered series of events that lead to normal tissue repair. An alteration in this physiologic network can lead to the development of a chronic wound. This article presents an update on the numerous mediators that exist within the wound environment in both acute normal healing and chronic nonhealing wounds. We also present a hypothesis which may provide a conceptual pathophysiologic mechanism with which to understand all chronic wounds.
Endocytosis of polypeptides and their receptors

Abstract Why is endocytosis of concern to pharmacologists? Most likely, the cellular action of nearly every polypeptide hormone or nutrient carrier (for iron or cholesterol) is either terminated or initiated by this process. Bacterial toxins and viruses often use this route to gain access to the interior of the cell. In addition, the endocytic pathway promises to provide new possibilities for assaults upon neoplastic cells. These may include Trojan horse conjugates of polypeptide hormones or cell-specific antibodies with cytotoxic peptides or drugs. Since Palade's studies 1 of secretion in the late 1950s it has been recognized that insertion of secretory granule membrane into the plasma membrane during exocytosis must be balanced by a membrane retrieval or endocytic process. Robert Dickson has used this consideration of endocytosis and exocytosis as coupled or complementary phenomena to unify the processes of receptor internalization, degradation, and recycling.
In vivo dual-tagging proteomic approach in studying signaling pathways in immune response.

Up to date, few successes have been achieved to identify the signaling molecules directly from immune cells due to their low-abundance and dynamic nature. Here, we designed an in vivo dual-tagging quantitative approach that integrated epitope-tagging which allows single affinity purification of the natural complexes formed at real-time, and amino acid-coded mass tagging (AACT) that assists mass spectrometry-based quantitative measurement, to identify the specific components of a signaling complex formed in macrophage cells upon lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. The sensitivity and accuracy of this quantitative method are significantly higher than those of tandem affinity purification, because the multiple step of purifications are avoided to preserve weakly interacting molecules. We identified a number of proteins that interact with MyD88, a critical adaptor protein in innate immune response, in macrophages upon stimulation. Among those newly identified MyD88-interacting partners, FLAP-1 was found to ...
Urticaria: The final common pathway

ABSTRACT Urticaria occurs commonly in children and young adults. In general, a younger and atopic population is usually involved and the lesions are acute, usually less than 6 weeks in duration and it is relatively easy to show a cause and effect, usually by history. The cause of chronic urticaria, which is defined as urticaria lasting longer than 6 weeks, is much more difficult to identify and 80–95% of patients are classified as idiopathic. Many of the patients react with a wheal and flare to their own serum or plasma indicating that they have a histamine-releasing agent in their own serum. Most of these subjects will have urticaria which clears with time but a small minority continue to have urticaria for the rest of their lives. Treatment for patients having known causes is to avoid the triggers and all patients with chronic urticaria need to be treated with H1 antihistamines. Sometimes an H2 antihistamine is added or a tricyclic 'tranquilizer' which has anti H1 and H2 blocking action needs to be used. Those patients who do not respond may need treatment with prednisone which should be reduced to the smallest dosage and discontinued as soon as possible. Patients with hereditary angioedema respond to danazol, stanozol or epislan-aminocaproic acid or tranexamic acid.
Skin cancer detection in a clinical practice examination with standardized patients.

Skin cancer screening as a means of secondary prevention of melanoma enhances early detection and may reduce death and morbidity from melanoma. 1-3 For the person at highest risk, a patient without a prior melanoma, but with one family member with a history of melanoma, and who has atypical nevi, having a relative risk of 33 to A.A.A. of developing a melanoma,4 intensive medical surveillance is justified. For the limited number of these highest risk persons, screening by a dermatologist should be performed every 6 months. 58 Visual examination of the skin by a dermatologist is an acceptable and inexpensive screening tool, but primary care physicians are generally not as well qualified to diagnose skin cancer by visual inspection. 9,10 Although opportunistic screening (case finding) by primary physicians of patients (particularly older patients) who are being seen for another problem is recommended 6-8' 11 and is being done, 12 this could be improved by more training of primary care physicians. Although primary care providers currently find more melanomas than do derm_atologists, many detection possibilities are missedJ 3 One way to contribute to skin cancer control would be to improve the frequency and effectiveness of skin screening examinations by primary care physicians. Although studies comparing the ability of primary care residents and practicing physicians and specialism exist, they usually employ the artificial situation of a series of clinical photographs to test disease diagnosis 14"16 or diagnostic accuracy based on the diagnosis submitted on the pathology report. 17'1s None of these studies measures whether screening is
DNA Attachment and Hybridization at the Silicon (100) Surface

The chemical modification of silicon surfaces for DNA attachment and subsequent hybridization has been investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and contact angle measurements, in conjunction with fluorescence-based measurements of DNA hybridization. The feasibility of using small molecules to functionalize Si surfaces with primary amine groups for DNA attachment has been explored using the free amine 1-amino-3-cyclopentene (ACP) and a modified molecule with a protecting group on the amine, N-1-BOC-amino-3-cyclopentene (BACP). Direct attachment of amines leads to chemically heterogeneous surfaces, while the use of suitable protection and deprotection chemistry can produce a homogeneous surface with a high density of primary amine groups. The resulting amine-terminated surfaces were covalently coupled to thio-oligonucleotides using a heterobifunctional cross-linker. Hybridization experiments revealed that these DNA exhibit excellent stability to hybridization conditions, high specificity for reco...
Substantial evidence of effect.

Pressures for rapid drug development, especially for treatments that may affect public health significantly, drive a need to reconsider what is necessary to establish the "substantial evidence" of efficacy and safety required for regulatory approval. The concept of substantial evidence of effect can be stated fairly simply in principle, but its application to the evaluation of findings from real clinical drug development programs can be quite complicated and depend on circumstances relating to the population studied and the condition being treated. This paper discusses a number of considerations that arise in attempting to address this issue. These include confirmation of efficacy/safety as opposed to replication of results, the use of surrogates for the clinical outcome, ethical considerations, the use of trials aimed at demonstrating equivalence or noninferiority instead of superiority of a new drug, and the balance between benefits and risks. Recent developments such as the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines dealing with statistical principles and choice of control group, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidances interpreting the 1998 Modernization Act identify useful alternative definitions of substantial evidence and also identify when a single study can be enough to demonstrate a clinically important effect. The primary difficulty with the use of noninferiority trials is the need to demonstrate assay sensitivity or validity, i.e., that the trial would have demonstrated the superiority of the active control treatment to placebo had the trial included a placebo group. Failure to demonstrate a significant difference between the presumed active treatments and an inactive control precludes a definitive conclusion of assay validity, but external evidence, e.g., from trials demonstrating the activity of the active control, may yet justify concluding that the trial was assay valid. Issues of interpretation of important unexpected findings are illustrated in the recent experience with the alpha- and beta-blocker carvedilol, where there was a significant reduction in mortality among patients on carvedilol relative to placebo, but a treatment effect could not be demonstrated for the primary outcome. Experience with trials of thrombolytic agents illustrates alternative strategies for demonstrating substantial evidence of effect. Finally, meta-analyses can contribute to the substantial evidence by synthesizing the findings from separate trials to provide a perspective on drug performance in a heterogeneous population of patients that no single trial could provide.
PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF POLYFUNCTIONAL MOLECULES. DEVELOPMENT OF ANTENNA CHROMOPHORES FOR SELF-SENSITIZED PHOTOREDUCTION OF KETONES*

–Model systems are reported which test the efficacy of potential aryl antenna groups designed to harvest photons and subsequently transfer electronic energy to a target ketone through singlet-singlet energy transfer. The model series consists of 4-aryl substituted cyclohexanones where the aryl groups are benzyloxy (5a), benzoyl (5b), and dimethylphenylsiloxy (5c). In each case, photolysis of isopropyl alcohol solutions of the substrate with 254 nm light results in photoreduction of the ketone to the corresponding alcohols, 6a-6c. The most efficacious sensitizing antennae are the benzyloxy and dimethylphenylsiloxy chromophores, with quantum efficiencies for reduction equal to 0.57 and 0.48, respectively. Photophysical and photochemical studies on 5a confirm that energy transfer to the ketone is intramolecular with the rate constant for energy transfer estimated at 2.4 × 100 s-1.
VE-based training strategies for acquiring survey knowledge

Virtual environments (VEs) have been used successfully to train wayfinders to navigate through buildings and learn their layout. However, at the same time, for many, the VE deficiencies have reduced the effectiveness of VEs for training spatial tasks. In an effort to improve VE effectiveness, we conducted research to determine if certain unique capabilities of VEs could compensate for its deficiencies. Research participants were required to learn the layout or configuration of one floor of an office building as portrayed in a VE. To improve spatial learning, we developed three VE navigation training aids: local and global orientation cues, aerial views, and a themed environment enhanced with sights and sounds and divided into four distinct sectors. The navigation aids were provided during the training but were not available during testing of survey knowledge. Of the three training aids investigated, only the aerial views were effective in improving performance on the survey knowledge tests. The effectiveness of the navigation aids seemed to depend on how they were used during training. A retention test given one week after training indicated that spatial knowledge acquired in a VE diminished little over the one-week retention interval.
Expressing heap-shape contracts in linear logic

Contracts (dynamically checked programmer assertions) are a widely accepted mechanism for specifying, checking and documenting properties of software components. Most, if not all, contract systems expect programmers to use the native programming language to express their program invariants. While this is most effective for many simple invariants, expressing properties of data structures and aliasing patterns can be extremely complicated. If written in the native language in an unstructured way, such contracts are bound to be unclear and ineffective as documentation. In this paper, we show how to use linear logic as a language of contracts for an imperative programming language. The high-level nature of our linear logical contracts makes specifying memory shape and aliasing properties of complex recursive data structures easy. Moreover, since we give our logic a clear, compositional semantics, the contracts serve as effective, executable documentation for programmer expectations. In order to evaluate the truth of our linear logical contracts at run time, we use a modified version of LolliMon, a linear logic programming language.
A comparison of laboratory and field studies of cold response

The recent application of physiological techniques to anthropological studies of cold stress in different human groups has produced evidence of considerable variation in response to cold. The usual anthropological procedure has been to compare the adult males of two different ethnic groups under standardized laboratory conditions, and then to generalize the conclusions in an evolutionary or ecological context. Several assumptions behind this procedure are examined. Four studies of response to cold in the same Quechua Indian group of Southern Peru are discussed. Two of the studies deal with variation in response to cold in a standardized laboratory situation. The other two describe responses as detected under actual cold conditions experienced by the subjects as they go about their daily routines. The results of the laboratory and field studies are compared. It is suggested that adult males studied in the laboratory may represent only a minor part of the variation which exists in the group and that their responses may not be indicative of those of the entire population. It is also proposed that the validity of laboratory studies for an evolutionary interpretation may be limited by the laboratory approximation of the actual cold stress experienced by the group.
Static index pruning for information retrieval systems

We introduce static index pruning methods that significantly reduce the index size in information retrieval systems.We investigate uniform and term-based methods that each remove selected entries from the index and yet have only a minor effect on retrieval results. In uniform pruning, there is a fixed cutoff threshold, and all index entries whose contribution to relevance scores is bounded above by a given threshold are removed from the index. In term-based pruning, the cutoff threshold is determined for each term, and thus may vary from term to term. We give experimental evidence that for each level of compression, term-based pruning outperforms uniform pruning, under various measures of precision. We present theoretical and experimental evidence that under our term-based pruning scheme, it is possible to prune the index greatly and still get retrieval results that are almost as good as those based on the full index.
Functionalization of Polypropylene with High Dielectric Properties: Applications in Electric Energy Storage

Biaxial-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) thin films are currently used as dielectrics in state-of-the-art capacitors that show many advantages, such as low energy loss and high breakdown strength, but a limited energy density ( 600 MV/m. The PP-OH dielectric demonstrates a linear reversible charge storage behavior with high releasing energy density > 7 J/cm3 (2 - 3 times of BOPP) after an applied electric field at E = 600 MV/m, without showing any significant increase of energy loss and remnant polarization at zero electric field. On the other hand, a cross-linked polypropylene (x-PP) exhibits an e ~ 3, which is independent of a wide range of temperatures and frequencies, slim polarization loops, high breakdown strength (E = 650 MV/m), narrow breakdown distribution, and reliable energy storage capacity > 5 J/cm3 (double that of state-of-the-art BOPP capacitors), without showing any increase in energy loss.
A Self‐Image Inventory: Its Theoretical Background, Reliability and Validity*

Wylie (1974) points out that there is a lack of adequate theoretical development in the investigation of the self-concept. The result is a proliferation of operational definitions with no clear understanding of the relationship between operations, between constructs. and between the constructs and their operationalizations. In this article we make explicit the theoretical component of self to which this Self-Image Inventory relates. The article presents the inventory and twenty years of research experience with it. The inventory is found to be both reliable and valid for measuring the self-image as a role specific component of self.
Structural studies on avian myeloblastosis virus: conditions for isolation and biochemical characteristics of the core component.

Abstract The core component of avian myeloblastosis virus (AMV) was isolated in amounts sufficient for biochemical analysis. Core material which approached homogeneity by electron microscopy had a composition by weight of 86% protein, 8% RNA, and 6% phospholipid. This amount of phospholipid may indicate either contamination by non-core structures, or more probably the presence of phospholipid as an intrinsic constituent of AMV cores. The influence of various conditions of the isolation procedure on the yield of AMV cores from intact virus was also examined. The highest yield of core material was obtained by use of a sodium phosphate buffer with EDTA, a 10-min exposure of unfrozen Ficoll-purified AMV (protein concentration of 1 mg/ml) to Sterox SL (final concentration 1.5%, v/v), and velocity sedimentation through a layer of 48% (w/w) sucrose into a pellet.
Data at work: supporting sharing in science and engineering

Data are a fundamental component of science and engineering work, and the ability to share data is critical to the validation and progress of science. Data sharing and reuse in some fields, however, has proven to be a difficult problem. This paper argues that the development of effective CSCW systems to support data sharing in work groups requires a better understanding of the use of data in practice. Drawing on our work with three scientific disciplines, we show that data play two general roles in scientific communities: 1) they serve as evidence to support scientific inquiry, and 2) they make a social contribution to the establishment and maintenance of communities of practice. A clearer consideration and understanding of these roles can contribute to the design of more effective data sharing systems. We suggest that this can be achieved through supporting social interaction around data abstractions, reaching beyond current metadata models, and supporting the social roles of data.
Kinetic and product studies of the reactions of selected glycol ethers with OH radicals.

Glycol ethers are widely used as solvents and are hence liable to be released into the atmosphere where they may contribute to the formation of photochemical air pollution in urban and regional areas. The dominant reaction of glycol ethers in the atmosphere has been previously shown to be with OH radicals. Using a relative rate method, rate constants have been measured at 296 ± 2 K for the gas-phase reactions of the OH radical with 1-butoxy-2-propanol [CH3CH2CH2CH2OCH2CH(OH)CH3], diethylene glycol ethyl ether [CH3CH2OCH2CH2OCH2CH2OH], and diethylene glycol n-butyl ether [CH3CH2CH2CH2OCH2CH2OCH2CH2OH] of (in units of 10-11 cm3 molecule-1 s-1) 3.76 ± 0.54, 5.72 ± 0.85, and 7.44 ± 0.94, respectively, where the error limits include the estimated overall uncertainties in the rate constants for the reference compounds. Products of the OH radical-initiated reactions of these glycol ethers have been investigated using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID), combined gas chromatography−mass sp...
Does HIV infection promote early kidney injury in women

BACKGROUND In HIV-infected women, urine concentrations of novel tubulointerstitial injury markers, interleukin-18 (IL-18) and kidney injury marker-1 (KIM-1), are associated with kidney function decline and all-cause mortality. We hypothesized that HIV-infected individuals with preserved kidney filtration function would have more extensive kidney injury, as determined by urine injury markers, compared to the uninfected controls, and that risk factors for tubulointerstitial injury would differ from risk factors for albuminuria. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, we compared urine concentrations of IL-18, KIM-1 and albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) in 908 HIV-infected and 289 HIV-uninfected women enrolled in the Women's Interagency HIV Study, utilizing stored urine specimens from visits between 1999 and 2000. RESULTS After multivariate-adjusted linear regression analysis, mean urine concentrations were higher in HIV-infected individuals by 38% for IL-18 (P<0.0001), 12% for KIM-1 (P=0.081) and 47% for ACR (P<0.0001). Higher HIV RNA level (15% per 10-fold increase; P<0.0001), lower CD4(+) lymphocyte count (8% per doubling; P=0.0025), HCV infection (30%; P=0.00018) and lower high-density lipoprotein (5% per 10 mg/dl; P=0.0024) were each associated with higher IL-18 concentrations. In contrast, hypertension (81%; P<0.0001) and diabetes (47%; P=0.018) were among the strongest predictors of higher ACR, though HIV RNA level (15% per 10-fold increase; P=0.0004) was also associated with higher ACR. CONCLUSIONS HIV-infected women had more extensive tubulointerstitial and glomerular injury than uninfected women, but the associated factors differed among the urine biomarkers. Combinations of urinary biomarkers should be investigated to further characterize early kidney injury in HIV-infected women.
Post-translational modifications of PML: consequences and implications

The tumor suppressor promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) predominantly resides in a structurally distinct sub-nuclear domain called PML nuclear bodies. Emerging evidences indicated that PML actively participates in many aspects of cellular processes, but the molecular mechanisms underlying PML regulation in response to stress and environmental cues are not complete. Post-translational modifications, such as SUMOylation, phosphorylation, acetylation, and ubiquitination of PML add a complex layer of regulation to the physiological function of PML. In this review, we discuss the fast-moving horizon of post-translational modifications targeting PML.
Nonlinearity in DNA and its Relation to Specific Functions

In memory of Alwyn Scott, we discuss the connection between the nonlinear dynamics of double-stranded DNA, experimental findings, and specific DNA functions. We begin by discussing how thermally induced localized openings (bubbles) of the DNA double-strand are important for interpreting dynamic force spectroscopy data. Then, we demonstrate a correlation between the sequence-dependent propensity for bubble formation and transcription initiation and other regulatory effects in viral DNA. Finally, we discuss the possibility of a connection between DNA dynamics and the ability of repair proteins to recognize ultraviolet-radiation damage.
INDUCTION OF APOPTOSIS BY RETINOIDS IN HUMAN CERVICAL-CARCINOMA CELL-LINES

Retinoids can inhibit the growth and modulate the differentiation of a variety of tumor cell types in vitro and in vivo. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (4HPR) are currently being evaluated in clinical trials for their potential use in cancer chemoprevention and therapy. We compared the effects of these retinoids on 10 human cervical carcinoma cell lines. Four of the 10 cell lines showed dramatic morphological changes and the other 5 exhibited decreased cell density after treatment with 10 mu M 4HPR, whereas few changes were induced by 10 mu M ATRA. Cell rounding and detachment were also observed in four of the cell lines. An analysis of DNA from both detached and attached cells after retinoid treatment has demonstrated the formation of a DNA ladder after electrophoresis in agarose gels, which indicated that some of the cell lines had undergone apoptosis. Induction of DNA fragmentation by 4HPR but not by other retinoids (ATRA, 13-cis-RA, and 9-cis-RA) was further evidenced as early as 24 h after treatment by a quantitative assay based on the degradation of [H-3]-thymidine-labeled DNA. Ln addition, morphological changes of nuclei associated with apoptosis such as chromatin condensation were observed by propidium iodide staining of the nuclei after 4HPR treatment. These results demonstrate that 4HPR causes apoptosis in several cervical carcinoma cell lines and that it is more potent in this effect than ATRA or other RA isomers.
Victorian Physicists and Speed Regulation: An Encounter between Science and Technology

The technology of speed regulation in the nineteenth century, from an economic or industrial point of view a minor speciality of mechanical engineering, has recently received increasing attention, for conceptually it contains the origins of modern control engineering (1). This episode in the history of technology is remarkable for a social phenomenon: among its participants we find not only countless engineers whose names are now forgotten, but also illustrious physical scientists like Airy, Foucault, Kelvin, Maxwell, and Gibbs, men whom one would have expected to incline toward the ‘pure’ side of science.
The isolation of structural genes from libraries of eucaryotic DNA

We present a procedure for eucaryotic structural gene isolation which involves the construction and screening of cloned libraries of genomic DNA. Large random DNA fragments are joined to phage lambda vectors by using synthetic DNA linkers. The recombinant molecules are packaged into viable phage particles in vitro and amplified to establish a permanent library. We isolated structural genes together with their associated sequences from three libraries constructed from Drosophila, silkmoth and rabbit genomic DNA. In particular, we obtained a large number of phage recombinants bearing the chorion gene sequence from the silkmoth library and several independent clones of beta-globin genes from the rabbit library. Restriction mapping and hybridization studies reveal the presence of closely linked beta-globin genes.
Designing real terrorism futures

In July 2003, the Policy Analysis Market (PAM) was described as terrorism futures, and immediately cancelled. While PAM was not in fact designed to be terrorism futures, I here consider five design issues with implementing and using real terrorism futures: combinatorics, manipulation, moral hazard, hiding prices, and decision selection bias. As neither these nor other problems seem insurmountable, terrorism futures appears to be a technically realistic possibility.
Optical exceptional points at nano and macro scales

Here, we exploit implementation of optical losses to develop innovative optical phenomena and devices, for example, mimicking exceptional points and their unique transport characteristics in optics at both nano and macro scales.
The Promises and Challenges of Continuous Monitoring and Risk Scoring

Continuous monitoring and risk scoring is a comprehensive process of maintaining ongoing awareness of information security, vulnerabilities, and threats to support organizational risk management decisions. Two of the most salient aspects of CMRS are continuous data collection through automated feeds and analysis of that data to assess and score risks. CMRS attracts growing interest due to its potential to be far more agile, responsive, and perhaps less expensive than such alternatives as periodic reporting and certification. While the potential benefits could be great, so are the challenges of implementing a successful CMRS system.