cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Insertion of reticuloendotheliosis virus long terminal repeat into a bacterial artificial chromosome clone of a very virulent Marek's disease virus alters its pathogenicity

Co-cultivation of the JM/102W strain of Marek's disease virus (MDV) with reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) resulted in the generation of a recombinant MDV containing the REV long terminal repeat (LTR) named the RM1 strain of MDV, a strain that was highly attenuated for oncogenicity but induced severe bursal and thymic atrophy. We hypothesize that the phenotypic changes were solely due to the LTR insertion. Furthermore, we hypothesize that insertion of REV LTR into an analogous location in a different MDV would result in a similar phenotypic change. To test these hypotheses, we inserted the REV LTR into a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone of a very virulent strain of MDV, Md5, and designated the virus rMd5-RM1-LTR. The rMd5-RM1-LTR virus and the rMd5 virus were passaged in duck embryo fibroblast cells for up to 40 passages before pathogenicity studies. Susceptible chickens were inoculated intra-abdominally at hatch with the viruses rMd5-RM1-LTR, rMd5 BAC parental virus, wild-type strain Md5, or strain RM1 of MDV. The rMd5-RM1-LTR virus was attenuated at cell culture passage 40, whereas the rMd5 BAC without RM1 LTR retained its pathogenicity at cell culture passage 40. Using polymerase chain analysis, the RM1 LTR insert was detected in MDV isolated from buffy coat cells collected from chickens inoculated with rMd5-RM1-LTR, but only at 1 week post inoculation. The data suggest that the presence of the RM1 LTR insert within MDV genome for 1 week post inoculation with virus at hatch is sufficient to cause a reduction in pathogenicity of strain Md5 of MDV.
Advances in prevention of radiation damage to visceral and solid organs in patients requiring radiation therapy of the trunk

Background As a part of multimodality therapy, many patients with tumors of the trunk receive radiation therapy. The major morbidity of this therapy is often secondary to incidental radiation damage to tissues adjacent to treatment areas. Methods We detail our use of saline breast implants placed in polyglycolic acid mesh sheets to displace visceral and solid organs away from the radiation field. Results Analysis of CT scans and dose volume histograms reveal that this technique successfully displaces uninvolved organs away from the radiation fields, thereby minimizing the radiation dose to such organs and tissues. Conclusion We believe this is a safe and efficacious method to prevent radiation damage to visceral and solid organs adjacent to trunk tumor sites. J. Surg. Oncol. 64:109–114. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Long-term outcomes in total colonic aganglionosis: a 32-year experience

Abstract Background/Methods A 32-year retrospective review from 1972 to 2004 analyzed complications and long-term outcomes in children with total colonic aganglionosis (TCA) as they relate to the procedure performed. Results Thirty-six patients (27 boys, 9 girls) had TCA. The level of aganglionosis was distal ileum (26), mid–small bowel (8), midjejunum (1), and entire bowel (1). Enterostomy was performed in 35 of 36. Eight developed short bowel syndrome. Twenty-nine (81%) had a pull-through at 15 ± 6 months (modified Duhamel 20, Martin long Duhamel 4, and Soave 5). Six had a Kimura patch. Postoperative complications (including enterocolitis) were more common after long Duhamel and Soave procedures. Seven (19%; 2 with Down's syndrome) died (3 early, 4 late) from pulmonary emboli (1), sepsis (1), fluid overload (1), viral illness (1), liver failure (1), arrhythmia (1), and total bowel aganglionosis (1). Mean follow-up was 11 ± 9 years (range, 6 months-29 years). Twenty-four (83%) of 29 patients exhibited growth by weight of 25% or more, 21 (91%) of 23 older than toddler age had 4 to 6 bowel movements per day, and 17 (81%) of 21 were continent. In 5 of 6, the Kimura patch provided functional benefit with proximal disease. Conclusion Long-term survival was 81%. The highest morbidity occurred with long Duhamel or Soave procedures. The modified Duhamel is our procedure of choice in TCA. Bowel transplantation is an option for TCA with unadapted short bowel syndrome.
Galileo and High Tower Experiments

Theorie de Galilee qui tend a demontrer que lors d'experiences de chutes libres de spheres depuis de hautes tours, la force de frottement de l'air est superieure a la force de flottabilite.
A new damper design for machine tool structures: the replicated internal viscous damper

Abstract Good stiffness and damping are each necessary, but not individually sufficient, requirements for a precision machine. Damping provided by the materials and joints in a machine are typically low. This article introduces the concept of an internal damping device: a replicated internal viscous damper. This type of damper uses internal beams covered with a viscous fluid that are then replicated in place inside structural members. The viscous fluid first acts as a mold release and then as a very thin viscous shear layer. The design theory is developed and shown to agree with experimental results. Amplification at resonance factors (i.e., the quality factor Q) on the order of 20 are obtainable (one to two orders of magnitude better damped than many types of materials). This enables machine tool and instrument design engineers to worry less about material damping considerations, which can help to increase design options.
Removing smearing-effect artifacts in angle-domain common-image gathers from reverse time migration

Local plane-wave decomposition (LPWD) and local shift imaging condition (LSIC) methods for extracting angle-domain common-image gathers (ADCIGs) from prestack reverse time migration are based on the local plane-wave assumption, and both suffer from a trade-off in choosing the local window size. Small windows produce clean ADCIGs, but with low angle resolution, whereas large windows produce noisy ADCIGs, which include smearing-effect artifacts, but with high angle resolution. The cause of the smearing-effect artifacts in LPWD is the crosscorrelation of plane waves obtained by decomposition of the source and receiver wavefronts, at points that do not lie on the source wavefront excitation time trajectory. The cause of the smearing-effect artifacts in LSIC is the decomposition of curved events of offset-domain common-image gathers (ODCIGs) at incorrect depth points at zero offset. These artifacts can occur even if the migration velocity model is correct. Two methods were proposed to remove the artifacts. In the LPWD method, the smearing-effect artifacts were removed by decomposing and crosscorrelating the resulting source and receiver plane waves only at image points and excitation (image) times. In the LSIC method, the artifacts were removed by decomposing curved events in ODCIGs into planar events only at zero-offset target image points. Numerical tests with synthetic data revealed the success of the proposed methods.
Measurement of Particle-Bound Reactive Oxygen Species in Rubidoux Aerosols

The diurnal variations in the concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in various size fractions were determined for ambient particles in Rubidoux, CA. Sampling of particles was conducted at 3 h intervals using a cascade impactor. The collected particles were reacted with dichlorofluorescin (DCFH), a non-fluorescent probe that fluoresces when oxidized. The factors affecting the diurnal variation in ROS concentration were also investigated with special emphasis on the relation between ROS concentration and the intensity of photochemical reactions where the ozone concentration was taken as an index. The intensity of photochemical reactions was found to be a moderate factor affecting the daytime ROS concentration. The concentration of ROS was found to be higher on the smaller particles of the ambient aerosol.
Is there a difference in mortality rates between diabetic and nondiabetic patients who present with acute myocardial infarction and are treated with drug-eluting stents?

Is there a difference in mortality rates between diabetic and nondiabetic patients who present with acute myocardial infarction and are treated with drug-eluting stents? Asmir I. Syed, Sara D. Collins, Yanlin Li, Itsik Ben-Dor, Mickey Scheinowitz, Gabriel Manuela, Gilles Lemesle, Rebecca Torguson, Kimberly Kaneshige, Zhenyi Xue, Joseph Lindsay, Kenneth M. Kent, Lowell F. Satler, William O. Suddath, Augusto D. Pichard, Ron Waksman Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC
Assay of creatinine using the peroxidase activity of copper-creatinine complexes.

Abstract Objectives: It was our goal to develop a urine dipstick that could measure creatinine with a peroxidase reaction. The simultaneous measurement of albumin and creatinine permits the estimation of the 24-h albumin excretion, an important value in judging existing or likely development of renal failure. A highly sensitive dye-binding dipstick method for albumin exists, and a suitable dipstick for the assay for urine creatinine is described here. Methods: Copper-creatinine and iron-creatinine complexes have peroxidase activity. With 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), and diisopropyl benzene dihydroperoxide (DBDH); the peroxidase activity of copper-creatinine and iron-creatinine complexes can be demonstrated. This reaction was used in the assay of urine creatinine either in solution or by a suitably impregnated urine dipstick. Results: Our method based on the peroxidase activity of the copper-creatinine complex has an analytical range for creatinine of 100 mg/L (0.884 mmol/L) to 3000 mg/L (26.52 mmol/L). The creatinine assay is free from most interfering compounds that may be present in urine. Hemoglobin is an interferent, and its effects can be reduced but not eliminated by the addition of 4-hydroxy-2-methyl quinoline. We do not recommend using the dipsticks when visible blood is present or if the dipstick blood test is positive. The copper-creatinine complex oxidizes ascorbic acid; however, we were able to modify the reaction conditions so that ascorbic acid at Discussion: With the simultaneous measurement of creatinine and albumin in urine, the albumin/creatinine ratio can be determined effectively reducing or eliminating the occasional false-negative and false-positive result in those with dilute or concentrated urines, respectively. The dipstick test for these analytes permits the simple identification of individuals with possible albuminuria and could serve well in a point-of-care setting.
Preliminary assessment of cognitive function in breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen.

Background. Tamoxifen is an anti-estrogen used in the treatment of breast cancer and to reduce the incidence of breast cancer in high risk women. Although the brain is an estrogen target organ and several studies have found a beneficial effect of estrogen on cognitive function, the effect of tamoxifen on cognition has not been reported. Therefore, we initiated a follow-up study of women who had participated in a study of breast cancer to assess the effect of tamoxifen treatment on cognitive function. Methods. We recruited previously interviewed patients who were cases in a population-based case-control study of 2,653 women with primary breast cancer diagnosed between 1987 and 1996 at ages 55–72 years in Los Angeles County, California, USA. In November 1997, each case was mailed a follow-up questionnaire. Cognitive function was assessed by (1) clock drawing, (2) copying a box drawing, and (3) narrative writing to describe a pictured scene. Women reporting treatment with tamoxifen were categorized as standard-term users (4–5 years), short-term users (<4 years) or long-term users (6 + years) and compared to never users. Tamoxifen users were also classified as past or current users. Differences in the mean cognitive test scores were tested after adjusting for age, age at diagnosis, stage of disease, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, race, education, marital status, previous use of oral contraceptives, type of menopause, age at last menstrual period, previous use of hormone replacement therapy, and depressive symptoms using analysis of covariance. All p-values for differences in the proportion of women who had errors on the tests are 2-sided and adjusted for age, stage of disease at diagnosis, and chemotherapy. Findings. Information from 1,163 women aged 57–75 years of age was analyzed; 710 had taken tamoxifen. There was little difference between women who had used tamoxifen for the standard five years and never users on the three cognitive tests. However, more women who had used tamoxifen for the standard term reported seeing their physician for memory problems than non-users (3.8% vs 1.5%, p = 0.04). This was especially true for current users of standard-term (8.0%, p = 0.003). Current users also had a significantly lower mean complexity score (p = 0.03) on the narrative writing task. No differences were seen between past users and non-users. Interpretation. Our study suggests that current use of tamoxifen may adversely effect cognition. Further study of tamoxifen and cognition is needed so that healthy women considering tamoxifen for the primary prevention of breast cancer have comprehensive information about the side effects of the treatment.
Discrete solitons/soliton-trains in two-dimensional photonic lattices induced with partially-coherent light

We demonstrate the formation of 2D discrete solitons/soliton-trains in a photonic-lattice induced with partially-coherent light, along with a clear transition from discrete-diffraction to discrete-soliton in the periodic lattice.
Ignorance and manipulation

Abstract This note proves that, if individuals are under ignorance regarding other's preferences, every neutral and positively responsive social choice function is non-manipulable.
Observations on the anisotropic band of cross-striated muscle.

Abstract During passive stretch of muscle both the I and the centrally located H, M, E regions increase while the dense outer region of the A band decreases in length. Whether the total A band remains constant in length or increases very slightly in the range studied cannot be categorically stated in view of the small changes noted which are below the resolving power of the microscope.
INTERANNUAL VARIATION OF MARSH FORAMINIFERAL ASSEMBLAGES (BOMBAY HOOK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, SMYRNA, DE): DO FORAMINIFERAL ASSEMBLAGES HAVE A MEMORY?

Seasonal reproduction and preservation of foraminifera were monitored for three years at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge (Smyrna, DE). Cluster analysis of “seasonally artificially time-averaged” (SATA) assemblages indicates that assemblages reflect the most recent test inputs, and that test inputs record subtle variations in porewater chemistry related to rates of sulfate reduction, pyrite oxidation, and vertical differentiation of geochemical gradients. Changes in geochemical gradients are caused by interannual variation of rainfall: more rainfall damps pyrite oxidation and weakens geochemical gradients, whereas less rainfall allows more pyrite oxidation and strengthens vertical gradients. Geochemical overprinting of assemblages related to rainfall tended to occur during the summer and early fall. Therefore, as assemblages pass into the historical layer, they may have a “memory” of the most recent test inputs and environmental conditions.
Radiation plus chemotherapy as adjuvant therapy for rectal cancer

Abstract The most common neo-adjuvant therapy for rectal cancer is chemotherapy and concurrent radiation therapy. In general, it is delivered pre-operatively for patients with clinical evidence of T 3–4 disease or post-operatively in patients who have undergone surgery and have T 3 and/or N 1–2 disease. This chapter reviews the rationale and results for neo-adjuvant therapy, the selection process for pre-operative versus post-operative treatment, and new approaches and controversies.
Formal properties of sequential/parallel matrix languages

A new type of grammar for generating two-dimensional patterns is introduced. The generation of a pattern occurs in two phases. First, a string grammar generates a “row” of syntactic variables (the sequential phase). Then a battery of instances of string grammars—one for each symbol produced in the first phase—operate in tandem to create the columns of the final pattern (the parallel phase). Several unrelated properties of the classes of patterns generated by various varieties of matrix grammars are announced.
Comments on the Validity of Test Conditions for Kolsky Bar Testing of Elastic-Brittle Materials

Analytic solutions for the time it takes an elastic Kolsky bar sample to achieve stress equilibrium and constant-strain-rate are presented. Using these solutions simple analytic criterion are derived that can be used either a posteriori to check the validity of a conducted experiment or a proiri to provide envelopes of validity under which tests could be conducted correctly on elastic-brittle materials.
Histologic patterns of foot callus associated with variations in foot mechanics

Abnormal foot structure or function can result in hyperkeratotic lesions of the foot. Specific histologic patterns of mechanically induced keratoses of the foot were described and correlated with abnormal foot mechanics. Emphasis was placed upon the prevention of foot callus based upon an alteration between various host factors such as foot structure and function, and environmental considerations, such as flooring, foot gear, and occupation. See Lemont, H (1983): Histologic differentiation of mechanical and non-mechanical keratoses of the sole. Clinics in Dermatology (July—September, 1983) 1(1):44–53.
Ferrocyanide: an inhibitor of cytochrome oxidase.

Abstract Ferrocyanide inhibits cytochrome oxidase activity with an inhibition constant of 0.8 mM and a binding rate constant of 0.0033 sec−1. Treatment of the enzyme with ferrocyanide caused the reduction of cytochrome a but not a 3 , as judged by the Soret to α absorption ratio, which was established using phopholipid depleted oxidase in the absence of inhibitor. The spectral characteristics of ferrocyanide treated oxidase are presented and the possible inhibition site is discussed.
Improved Horvath—Kawazoe equations including spherical pore models for calculating micropore size distribution

Since its publication, the Horvath—Kawazoe (H—K) equation has been rapidly and widely adopted for calculating the micropore size distribution from a single adsorption isotherm measured at a subcritical temperature (e.g. N2 at 77 K or Ar at 87 K). In the H—K formulation, the ideal Henry's law (linearity) is assumed for the isotherm, even though the actual isotherms invariably follow the typical type I behavior, which is well represented by the Langmuir isotherm. The H—K formulation is modified by including the nonlinearity of the isotherm. Inclusion of nonlinearity results in sharpening of the pore size distribution and shifting of its peak position to a smaller size. Furthermore, the H—K equation is extended to spherical pores, and the improved H—K equation for spherical pores by including isotherm nonlinearity is also given. It is shown that the spherical-pore model is particularly useful for zeolites with cavities. Using the literature isotherm data, the improved H—K equations for three pore geometries (slit shape, cylinder and sphere) are compared with the original H—K equations. Clear improvements are seen in the calculated micropore size distributions by using the improved H—K equations.
A humane tool for aiding computer science advisors, computer science students, and parents

Over the past few years, the computer science department faculty at Baylor has observed that some students who perform adequately during the freshman and sophomore years have substantial difficulty during the junior and senior years of study. Baylor University is an institution committed to being caring of its students. The objective for this study grew out of these two realities.
Calculus of cooperation and game-based reasoning about protocol privacy

The article introduces a new formal system, the calculus of cooperation, for reasoning about coalitions of players in a certain class of games. The calculus is an extension of the propositional intuitionistic logic that adds a coalition parameter to intuitionistic implication. The system is shown to be sound and complete with respect to a game semantics.One intended application of the calculus of cooperation is the verification of privacy properties in multiparty computation protocols. The article argues that such properties can be established by providing a set of strategies for a non-zero-sum, perfect information game based on the protocol. It concludes with several examples of such verifications formalized in the calculus of cooperation.
A model for photosynthesis and photorespiration in C3 plants based on the biochemistry and stoichiometry of the pathways

On considere les effets de la densite de flux quantique et des concentrations internes en CO 2 et O 2 sur la formation de ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate, la photosynthese et la photorespiration de plantes en C3
Dual polarized widely tunable stacked microstrip antenna using varactor diodes

In this paper, a dual polarized widely tunable stacked microstrip antenna is proposed and is investigated by simulation and measurement. Eight varactor diodes are embedded along the edges of the patch to realize the proposed tuning capability. The stacked structure is used to compensate for varactor loss. Consequently, a wide tuning range of 63% is achieved with a gain variation of 1.0–9.3dBi.
Activation Studies following Experimental Hemiblock in the Dog

Electrocardiograms (ECG), McFee vectorcardiograms (VCG), and ventricular activation data were collected from 25 anesthetized dogs before, immediately after, and 4 weeks after surgically induced discrete left anterior divisional block. Left anterior divisional block resulted in minor ECG changes: small S waves developed in leads II, III, and aVF and the QRS complex was prolonged 5-15 msec (mean 9 ± 2.7 [SD] msec). Prominent VCG changes also occurred: maximal and terminal forces were shifted posteriorly, superiorly, and slightly leftward, the duration of the loop was increased 5-15 msec (mean 9.8 ± 2.8 msec), and the terminal portions of the loop were slurred. Epicardial surface mapping revealed a consistent area of 5-20-msec delay (mean 12 ± 5.1 msec) confined to the lateral-basal surface of the left ventricle. Transmural activation studies in this area invariably revealed 6-20-msec (mean 12.8 ± 4.8 msec) delays in Purkinje and 3-25-msec (mean 12.4 ±5.6 msec) delays in endocardial activation. The wave front propagated across the wall with normal velocity. Q waves developed due to a "window effect" in the area of delay. Combining division of the septal fibers with left anterior divisional block resulted in surface delays of greater magnitude with marked axis shifts toward the left. Despite the extensive interconnections of the left ventricular conduction system, discrete proximal left anterior divisional block resulted in a significant alteration in the sequence of ventricular activation, confirming the fascicular nature of the left ventricular conduction system. The septal division appears to be an integral part of this system. The methodology described in this paper can be used to readily differentiate between epicardial delay due to conduction delay and that due to intramural myocardial delay.
Granulin, a novel STAT3-interacting protein, enhances STAT3 transcriptional function and correlates with poorer prognosis in breast cancer

Since the neoplastic phenotype of a cell is largely driven by aberrant gene expression patterns, increasing attention has been focused on transcription factors that regulate critical mediators of tumorigenesis such as signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). As proteins that interact with STAT3 may be key in addressing how STAT3 contributes to cancer pathogenesis, we took a proteomics approach to identify novel STAT3-interacting proteins. We performed mass spectrometry-based profiling of STAT3-containing complexes from breast cancer cells that have constitutively active STAT3 and are dependent on STAT3 function for survival. We identified granulin (GRN) as a novel STAT3-interacting protein that was necessary for both constitutive and maximal leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF)induced STAT3 transcriptional activity. GRN enhanced STAT3 DNA binding and also increased the time-integrated amount of LIF-induced STAT3 activation in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, silencing GRN neutralized STAT3-mediated tumorigenic phenotypes including viability, clonogenesis, and migratory capacity. In primary breast cancer samples, GRN mRNA levels were positively correlated with STAT3 gene expression signatures and with reduced patient survival. These studies identify GRN as a functionally important STAT3-interacting protein that may serve as an important prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target in breast cancer.
Behavioral and neurochemical effects of repeated MDMA administration during late adolescence in the rat

Adolescents and young adults disproportionately abuse 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ‘Ecstasy’); however, since most MDMA research has concentrated on adults, the effects of MDMA on the developing brain remain obscure. Therefore, we evaluated place conditioning to MDMA (or saline) during late adolescence and assessed anxiety-like behavior and monoamine levels during abstinence. Rats were conditioned to associate 5 or 10 mg/kg MDMA or saline with contextual cues over 4 twice-daily sessions. Five days after conditioning, anxiety-like behavior was examined with the open field test and brain tissue was collected to assess serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the dorsal raphe, amygdala, and hippocampus by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). In a separate group of rats, anxiety-like and avoidant behaviors were measured using the light–dark box test under similar experimental conditions. MDMA conditioning caused a place aversion at 10, but not at 5, mg/kg, as well as increased anxiety-like behavior in the open field and avoidant behavior in light–dark box test at the same dose. Additionally, 10 mg/kg MDMA decreased 5-HT in the dorsal raphe, increased 5-HT and 5-HIAA in the amygdala, and did not alter levels in the hippocampus. Overall, we show that repeated high (10 mg/kg), but not low (5 mg/kg), dose MDMA during late adolescence in rats increases anxiety-like and avoidant behaviors, accompanied by region-specific alterations in 5-HT levels during abstinence. These results suggest that MDMA causes a region-specific dysregulation of the serotonin system during adolescence that may contribute to maladaptive behavior.
Breast cancer heterogeneity : A mixture of at least two main types?

Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 98, No. 14, July 19, 2006 Affi liation of authors: Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. Correspondence to: William F. Anderson, MD, MPH, Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Room 8036, 6120 Executive Blvd., Bethesda, MD 20892-7244 (e-mail: wanderso@ mail.nih.gov ). See “ Note ” following “ References. ”
Core Concepts: Intestinal Perfusion in the Perinatal Period

The transitional physiology during the perinatal period facilitates adaptation from fetal to neonatal life and allows the gastrointestinal tract to assume essential postnatal functions. Intrinsic hemodynamic control in the developing intestines matures as a function of postnatal age. Immature vascular regulation in the newborn gastrointestinal tract is offset by an enhanced ability to extract oxygen from blood, and to some extent by increases in intestinal perfusion. Vasodilatation in the neonatal intestine is near maximal. Therefore, additional stressors particularly during the postprandial period increase the risk of mismatches in the oxygen supply to demand ratio, potentially predisposing intestinal tissue to hypoxia and ischemic injury.
Dynamic and efficient key management for access hierarchies

The problem of key management in an access hierarchy has elicited much interest in the literature. The hierarchy is modeled as a set of partially ordered classes (represented as a directed graph), and a user who obtains access (i.e., a key) to a certain class can also obtain access to all descendant classes of her class through key derivation. Our solution to the above problem has the following properties: (i) only hash functions are used for a node to derive a descendant's key from its own key; (ii) the space complexity of the public information is the same as that of storing the hierarchy; (iii) the private information at a class consists of a single key associated with that class; (iv) updates (revocations, additions, etc.) are handled locally in the hierarchy; (v) the scheme is provably secure against collusion; and (vi) key derivation by a node of its descendant's key is bounded by the number of bit operations linear in the length of the path between the nodes. Whereas many previous schemes had some of these properties, ours is the first that satisfies all of them. Moreover, for trees (and other "recursively decomposable" hierarchies), we are the first to achieve a worst- and average-case number of bit operations for key derivation that is exponentially better than the depth of a balanced hierarchy (double-exponentially better if the hierarchy is unbalanced, i.e., "tall and skinny"); this is achieved with only a constant increase in the space for the hierarchy. We also show how with simple modifications our scheme can handle extensions proposed by Crampton of the standard hierarchies to "limited depth" and reverse inheritance [13]. The security of our scheme relies only on the use of pseudo-random functions.
Photoelectron spectroscopy characterization and computational modeling of gadolinium nitride thin films synthesized by chemical vapor deposition

Here we report our study of the electronic properties of [100]-textured gadolinium nitride (GdN) thin films synthesized using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The electronic properties of the films were investigated using photoemission and inverse photoemission spectroscopy coupled with computational modeling. Our density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the theoretically predicted half-metallic electronic structure of GdN is likely due to its low density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level. These calculations are supported by our photoemission and inverse photoemission spectroscopic measurements which show a band gap for the prepared films of a few milli-electron volts, seemingly consistent with the predicted electronic structure. Additionally, the use of a CVD gallium nitride capping layer was found to decelerate the surface oxidation of our GdN samples.
Aligned νi132 bands coupled to different shapes in 186Hg

Abstract The structure of 186Hg has been studied through the 156Gd(34S, 4n) reaction. Three bands with even spin and parity are observed; two of them are established up to high spin and are found to cross with little interaction at I= 16+. Cranked shell model calculations suggest that these two bands can be associated with a decoupled ν i 13 2 pair based on a prolate and on an oblate or triaxial shape, respectively.
TCAM Razor: a systematic approach towards minimizing packet classifiers in TCAMs

Packet classification is the core mechanism that enables many networking services on the Internet such as firewall packet filtering and traffic accounting. Using ternary content addressable memories (TCAMs) to perform high-speed packet classification has become the de facto standard in industry. TCAMs classify packets in constant time by comparing a packet with all classification rules of ternary encoding in parallel. Despite their high speed, TCAMs suffer from the well-known range expansion problem. As packet classification rules usually have fields specified as ranges, converting such rules to TCAM-compatible rules may result in an explosive increase in the number of rules. This is not a problem if TCAMs have large capacities. Unfortunately, TCAMs have very limited capacity, and more rules mean more power consumption and more heat generation for TCAMs. Even worse, the number of rules in packet classifiers has been increasing rapidly with the growing number of services deployed on the Internet. In this paper, we consider the following problem: given a packet classifier, how can we generate another semantically equivalent packet classifier that requires the least number of TCAM entries? In this paper, we propose a systematic approach, the TCAM Razor, that is effective, efficient, and practical. In terms of effectiveness, TCAM Razor achieves a total compression ratio of 29.0%, which is significantly better than the previously published best result of 54%. In terms of efficiency, our TCAM Razor prototype runs in seconds, even for large packet classifiers. Finally, in terms of practicality, our TCAM Razor approach can be easily deployed as it does not require any modification to existing packet classification systems, unlike many previous range encoding schemes.
Computers are from Mars, organisms are from Venus

Biology and computer science share a natural affinity. Physicist Erwin Schrodinger envisioned life as an aperiodic crystal, observing that the organizing structure of life is neither completely regular, like a pure crystal, nor completely chaotic and without structure, like dust in the wind. Perhaps this is why biological information has never satisfactorily yielded to classical mathematical analysis. Machine computations combine elegant algorithms with brute-force calculations, which seems a reasonable approach to this aperiodic structure. Likewise, computing seeks to create a machine that can flexibly solve diverse problems. In nature, such plastic problem solving resides uniquely in the domain of organic matter. Thus, examining how organisms solve problems can lead to new computation and algorithm development approaches that devour the problems that are so easy to approach using a computer, yet so difficult to tackle in the laboratory. The paper discusses the two most successful uses of computers in biology, comparative sequence analysis and in silico cloning. It considers DNA computing and genetic algorithms.
Order in Pseudorandomness

We survey recent works which unify four of the most important and widely studied objects in the theory of pseudorandomness, namely: pseudorandom generators, expander graphs, error-correcting codes, and extractors. Since all of these objects are “pseudorandom” in some sense, it is not surprising that constructions of one of these objects may be useful in constructing another. Indeed, there are many examples of this in the past, which we do not attempt to summarize here. Instead, we focus on how recent works show that some of these objects are almost the same, when interpreted appropriately. All of the connections we describe involve extractors, lending further credence to Nisan’ assertion that they “exhibit some of the most ‘random-like’ properties of explicitly constructed combinatorial structures” [Nis96].
Note on Network Theory

Passive transducers may be connected in any manner between two pairs of terminals to form a resultant passive transducer between those terminals. In this note are given or indicated general expressions for the important properties of such a resultant transducer in terms of those of the transducers forming it for the case in which the arrangement of the subsidiary transducers can be achieved by some combination of series and parallel connections. Section (a) treats of transducers in parallel; (b), in series; (c), in series-parallel.
Cost Analysis of Soil Depressurization Techniques for Indoor Radon Reduction

A parametric cost analysis was conducted to determine the importance of various system design and operating variables on t h installation and operating costs of active soil depressurization (ASD) systems for indoor radon reduction in houses. The objective was to help guide the research and development (R&D) efforts of the US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce ASD costs. Annual lung canter deaths due to radon cannot be reduced by more than about 14% to 22% unless houses having pre-mitigation levels of 148 Bqlm3 and less receive radon reduction systems. Reductions in ASD costs might increase voluntary use of this technology by homeowners at those levels. The analysis showed that various modifications to ASD system designs offer potential for reducing installation costs by up to several hundred dollars1, but would not reduce total installed costs much below $800–$1000. Reductions of this magnitude would probably not be sufficient to dramatically increase voluntary use of ASD technology. Thus, some innovative, inexpensive mitigation approach other than ASD would appear to be necessary. Decreased ASD fan capacity and increased sealing might reduce ASD operation costs (for fan electricity and house heating/cooling) by roughly $7.50 per month. It is unlikely that this amount would be a deciding factor for most homeowners.
Experimental infection with a virulent pneumoenteric isolate of bovine coronavirus.

Bovine coronavirus (BCV) is 1 of the important causes of scours in young calves. Although the role of BCV in respiratory tract infections has not been clearly defined, there is increasing evidence that it causes upper respiratory tract infection in addition to the intestinal disease. Focal involvement of lungs was recently reported in 2 of 16 calves experimentally infected with BCV, but the sequence of events including clinical signs has not been clearly described for pneumotropic BCV. The present report describes a consistent, diffuse lung involvement in calves experimentally infected with a field isolate of BCV. The details of the experimental design have been described. Briefly, newborn, colostrum-deprived, unvaccinated calves were infected orally at 5 days of age with either a virulent pneumoenteric isolate of BCV (Minnesota isolate, calves 2, 6, and 7) or with an attenuated strain of BCV (Mebus strain, calves 1 and 9). The virus suspension was fed slowly to the calves with a 20-ml syringe. Although direct inoculation of the virus into the nasal cavity was unlikely, it was not possible to control the carryover of virus to the nasal cavity via insertion of the tongue into the nostril. Four calves (calves 3, 4, 5, and 8), housed in separate rooms were included as uninfected controls. One of the uninfected controls (calf 3) developed a natural infection with BCV. Nasal cells were collected by inserting cotton swabs into the anterior nasal cavity of the calves. The swabs were rotated gently to dislodge the cells of the nasal cavity. Sufficient number of cells were collected without difficulty. The swabs were placed in Hanks’ balanced salt solution (HBSS) and immediately transported to the laboratory where they were vortexed for 1 minute to separate nasal cells from the swab and the mucus. The swab was removed from the tube and the resulting suspension was centrifuged at 650 x g for 5 minutes. The pellet (approx. 0.05 ml packed cells) was mixed with equal volume of HBSS and vortexed again. The cell suspension was placed on 8-well slides with 30 μ1/well and allowed to dry at room temperature. The slides were washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.2, dried, and then fixed in acetone for 10 minutes. After drying again, the wells were covered with a drop of FITC-labeled bovine anti-BCV conjugate and incubated in a humid chamber for 1 hour. The conjugate was found to be specific for bovine coronavirus and did not react with uninfected Madin-Darby bovine kidney cells or with uninfected tissues from control calves (gut and lungs). The slides were washed with PBS (pH 8.5) and counterstained with Evan’s blue. The calves were kept under strict quarantine and were
Plasmonic Hot Electron Induced Photocurrent Response at MoS2-Metal Junctions.

We investigate the wavelength- and polarization-dependence of photocurrent signals generated at few-layer MoS2–metal junctions through spatially resolved photocurrent measurements. When incident photon energy is above the direct bandgap of few-layer MoS2, the maximum photocurrent response occurs for the light polarization direction parallel to the metal electrode edge, which can be attributed to photovoltaic effects. In contrast, if incident photon energy is below the direct bandgap of MoS2, the photocurrent response is maximized when the incident light is polarized in the direction perpendicular to the electrode edge, indicating different photocurrent generation mechanisms. Further studies show that this polarized photocurrent response can be interpreted in terms of the polarized absorption of light by the plasmonic metal electrode, its conversion into hot electron–hole pairs, and subsequent injection into MoS2. These fundamental studies shed light on the knowledge of photocurrent generation mechanisms i...
Artificial Neural Network and Finite Element Modeling of Nanoindentation Tests

This study first presents two-dimensional (2-D) axisymmetric and three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) models of nanoindentation tests. Calculated load-displacement curves from the FE models are compared with the load-displacement curves from nanoindentation measurements on annealed copper. Numerical parametric studies are also performed to examine the effect of indenter geometry and the material’s stress-strain behavior on the load-displacement response. The 2-D and 3-D FE load-displacement curves compare well with the measured results on annealed copper. The second aspect of this study introduces a new modeling approach for indentation tests using artificial neural networks (ANN). In this approach, ANN models are generated to approximate the FE load-displacement curves for a wide range of material and geometric parameters. The ability of the ANN models to predict the indentation response is examined against other FE results not used as part of the training data. These models are shown to accurately predict the load-displacement behavior of a nonlinear homogeneous material as well as one with a hard film, such as an oxide film, on a relatively soft substrate. It is shown that the monotonic indentation load-displacement response during loading contains ample information for the ANN model to extract material flow properties of the indented material.
Ethanol selectively enhances the hyperpolarizing component of neocortical neuronal responses to locally applied GABA

Local application of GABA to rat cerebral cortical neurons in brain slices elicited biphasic responses mediated via GABAA receptors. The fast component of the response, which was most apparent with somatic application of GABA, was hyperpolarizing at the normal resting membrane potential (GABAh response). The slower component could be elicited by GABA application to nearly all regions of the cell, and was depolarizing at the resting membrane potential (GABAd response). The reversal potential of evoked IPSCs recorded with whole-cell patch electrodes (-68 mV) was comparable to the reversal potential of the GABAh response (-69 mV), and was significantly different from the reversal potential of the GABAd response (-56 mV). The GABAd response was more sensitive to enhancement by pentobarbital and more readily antagonized by both bicuculline and picrotoxin than the GABAh response. Recording in bicarbonate-free buffer changed the reversal potential of the GABAd response significantly, but had no effect on the GABAh response. In contrast, superfusion with ethanol significantly enhanced the GABAh response, while having no effect on the GABAd component. Although a localized collapse of the Cl- gradient, which has been proposed to underlie the GABAd response, could explain the greater sensitivity of the GABAd response to pentobarbital and the GABAA antagonists, this could not account for the greater sensitivity of the GABAh response to ethanol. Differences in GABAA receptor subunit composition may result in the expression of dendritic and somatic GABAA receptors that have different kinetics, reversal potentials, and sensitivity to pharmacological agents, including ethanol.
Cover and Table of Contents for Volume 67

The cover image is De Saturno (Saturn on a chariot eating children) from Arati Solensis Phenomena et Prognostica (1569, 1570), which is part of the 345 books from the Fairweather Collection in Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives, described and analyzed in Erika Gorder’s article “Occult Collections and Mysterious Coincidences At Rutgers” in this volume.
Effects of genetic deletion of the Kv4.2 voltage-gated potassium channel on murine anxiety-, fear- and stress-related behaviors

Potassium channels have been proposed to play a role in mechanisms of neural plasticity, and the Kv4.2 subunit has been implicated in the regulation of action-potential back-propagation to the dendrites. Alterations in mechanisms of plasticity have been further proposed to underlie various psychiatric disorders, but the role of Kv4.2 in anxiety or depression is not well understood. In this paper, we analyzed the phenotype Kv4.2 knockout mice based on their neurological function, on a battery of behaviors including those related to anxiety and depression, and on plasticity-related learning tasks. We found a novelty-induced hyperactive phenotype in knockout mice, and these mice also displayed increased reactivity to novel stimulus such as an auditory tone. No clear anxiety- or depression-related phenotype was observed, nor any alterations in learning/plasticity-based paradigms. We did not find clear evidence for an involvement of Kv4.2 in neuropsychiatric or plasticity-related phenotypes, but there was support for a role in Kv4.2 in dampening excitatory responses to novel stimuli.
Identifying gene functions using functional expression profiles obtained by voxelation

Gene expression profiles have been widely used in functional genomic studies. However, not much work in traditional gene expression profiling takes into account the location information of a gene's expressions in the brain. Gene expression maps, which contain spatial information regarding the expression of genes in mice's brain, are obtained by combining voxelation and microarrays. Based on the idea that genes with similar gene expression maps may have similar gene functions, we propose an approach to identify gene functions. A gene function can potentially be associated with a specific gene expression profile. We name this specific gene expression profile, Functional Expression Profile (FEP). A functional expression profile can be obtained either by directly finding genes with a certain function, or by analyzing clusters of genes that have similar expression maps and similar functions. By taking advantage of the identified FEPs, we can annotate gene functions with high accuracy. Compared to the traditional K-nearest neighbor method, our approach shows higher accuracy in predicting functions. The images of FEPs are in good agreement with anatomical components of mice's brain, and provide valuable insight in terms of function prediction to biological scientists.
Overcoming Strain-Induced Rearrangement Reactions: A Mild Dehydrative Aromatization Protocol for Synthesis of Highly Distorted p-Phenylenes

A series of p-terphenyl-based macrocycles, containing highly distorted p-phenylene units, have been synthesized. Biaryl bonds of the nonplanar p-terphenyl nuclei were constructed in the absence of Pd-catalyzed or Ni-mediated cross-coupling reactions, using 1,4-diketones as surrogates to strained arene units. A streamlined synthetic protocol for the synthesis of 1,4-diketo macrocycles has been developed, using only 2.5 mol % of the Hoveyda-Grubbs second-generation catalyst in both metathesis and transfer hydrogenation reactions. Under protic acid-mediated dehydrative aromatization conditions, the central and most strained benzene ring of the p-terphenyl systems was susceptible to rearrangement reactions. To overcome this, a dehydrative aromatization protocol using the Burgess reagent was developed. Under these conditions, no strain-induced rearrangement reactions occur, delivering p-phenylene units with up to 28.4 kcal/mol strain energy and deformation angles that sum up to 40°.