cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nationalist Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet State: FROM THE IMPOSSIBLE TO THE INEVITABLE

… we travel abroad to discover in distant lands something whose presence at home has become unrecognizable. Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life On May 18, 1991, two Soviet cosmonauts blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome for a routine four-month mission aboard the Mir space station. While aloft in weightlessness, below them one world died and another was born. By the time they returned to Earth, they no longer knew whether the country that had dispatched them still existed and to which state they and their spacecraft belonged. The shattering of the Soviet state was one of the pivotal transformations of the twentieth century. It fundamentally altered the world in which we live, provoking an end to half a century of communist domination in Eastern Europe, breaching the Cold War division of the planet, and prompting new disorders with which the twenty-first century will long grapple. But the breakup of the USSR also presents us with many paradoxes that challenge our understanding of politics. The Soviet Union was a nuclear superpower with global commitments and a seventy-four-year record of survival – a polity which had endured two devastating wars, several famines involving millions of deaths, the mass annihilation of its own citizens by its rulers, and a social revolution that brought it into the industrial world. It was a state which launched the first human into space, whose founding political ideas inspired millions throughout the world, and which was widely regarded by many social scientists as a model of successful transition to modernity.
A study of the statistics of letters in English words

Data which had previously been published by several authors ( Ohlman, 1958; Pratt, 1942 ; Ohaver, 1933 ; Smith, 1943 ; Cox, 1947 ; Griffith, 1949 ; Gaines, 1956 ; Luhn, 1958 ) to describe the statistical characteristics of English words was examined to show the extent of their agreement. In addition, a detailed empirical study was made of two special types of English word: subject words and proper names. The data for the subject words and proper names was compared with previously reported data on subject words, proper names, and continuous text material. The statistical parameters which were measured and compared are: the distribution of initial letters, the distribution of terminal letters, the composite or total distribution of letters, the distribution of characters for each letter position, the distribution of bigrams, and the distribution of word lengths.
Youth Self Employment: Its Nature and Consequences

This paper examines the extent of self-employment, characteristics of the self-employed, and the returns to self-employment experiences for a sample of teenagers and young adults in the United States. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we find that the self-employment experience of youth is quite different from that of adults. Consequences of youth self-employment, measured at age 27, suggest both positive and negative effects.
Audio assistive technology and accommodations for students with visual impairments: Potentials and problems for delivering curricula and educational assessments

Abstract Audio assistive technology and testing accommodations have become an increasingly prevalent and potentially useful means of promoting inclusivity in education. Technologies such as text-to-speech and other forms of audio information representation have helped to make curricula more accessible to people with visual impairments and other disabilities. Auditory accommodations in educational testing have also been implemented in an attempt to ensure equitable access to educational evaluations for people with disabilities. The potential benefits of audio assistive technology and accommodations notwithstanding, barriers remain to the implementation of audio in education for people with disabilities. Concerns with validity in audio tests, technical difficulties in the delivery of audio, and general stigma associated with the use of assistive technology and accommodations present formidable challenges that must be met before the full potential of audio assistive technology can be realised. This review examines current practices, potentials, and problems with the use of audio assistive technology and accommodations in educational settings.
On the use of tied-mixture distributions

Tied-mixture (or semi-continuous) distributions are an important tool for acoustic modeling, used in many high-performance speech recognition systems today. This paper provides a survey of the work in this area, outlining the different options available for tied mixture modeling, introducing algorithms for reducing training time, and providing experimental results assessing the trade-offs for speaker-independent recognition on the Resource Management task. Additionally, we describe an extension of tied mixtures to segment-level distributions.
The long-term impact of preclinical education on medical students' opinions about radiology.

Rationale and Objectives It has been previously shown that integrating radiology teaching into the first year of medical education has an immediate positive effect on medical students' attitudes toward the practice of radiology. The purpose of this study is to determine whether these changes in attitude persist through the clinical years of training and whether preclinical exposure to radiology has a long-term effect on medical students' opinions about radiology and radiologists. Materials and Methods The first-year medical curriculum at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine was revised between the 2003 and 2004 academic years, with 2.5 hours of additional radiology lectures integrated into the existing preclinical coursework. Additionally, radiology consult sessions were integrated into problem-based learning sessions. An initial survey was administered in the preclinical years of training to assess first-year medical students' attitudes toward radiology before and after the changes to the curriculum. A follow-up survey was administered before graduation to determine whether the changes in attitude revealed in the first survey persisted throughout the remaining years of training, and to assess students' opinions about negative radiologist stereotypes. Students who had undergone the revised curriculum were compared to students who had undergone the traditional curriculum. Results There were statistically significant differences between the two graduating classes in terms of interest in, and perceptions of, the field of radiology. At graduation, students exposed to the revised preclinical curriculum with a greater exposure to radiology had a greater interest in radiology as a discipline and were more likely to have taken senior electives in radiology. These graduating students were also less likely to agree with negative stereotypes about radiologists. Conclusions Dedicated medical student teaching from an academic radiologist during the first year of medical school has a positive, long-lasting effect on medical students' attitudes toward radiology. The prevalence of negative stereotypes about radiologists among graduating medical students can be reduced by appropriate teaching of radiology in the preclinical years of medical school.
Structure, haemolymph titre, and regulatory effects of juvenile homone during ovarian maturation in Leucophaea maderae

Abstract Juvenile hormone (JH) synthesized and secreted in vitro by the corpora allata of mated adult Leucophaea maderae females was determined to be JH III (methyl-10,11-epoxy-3,7,11-trimethyl-2,6-dodecadienoate). The haemolymph titre of JH was determined during maturation of the terminal oocytes in the first reproductive cycle of L. maderae. In virgin females, JH is not detectable in the haemolymph during the first eight days following adult emergence; however, by 10 days after emergence, trace quantities of JH are apparent. Mating stimuli induce a dramatic increase in the concentration of haemolymph JH, with a peak occurring approximately 12 days after mating; thereafter, the JH concentration declines until it has reached an undetectable level 19 days after mating, at the time of chorion deposition. During ovarian maturation, changes in the rates of synthesis of vitellogenin by the fat body and DNA by the ovary correlate closely with the haemolymph titre of JH. However, no such correlation exists between the JH titre and the extensive ovarian protein synthesis that occurs in L. maderae coincident with chorion formation. The effects of JH I and JH III on both vitellogenin synthesis and ovarain DNA synthesis are statistically similar.
ACL injury and surgical treatment options

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has been the focus of a substantial amount of research. Thousands of studies have evaluated the structure and function of the intact ACL, as well as the best reconstruction techniques. Despite the amount of literature, many controversies remain regarding the ACL and its surgical reconstruction. This article reviews the anatomy and function of the native ACL, the nature of injury, and aspects of ACL reconstruction, including surgical approach, tunnel positioning, graft choice, and graft fixation.
The Rochester heavy ion detector

Abstract A heavy ion detector of novel design has been constructed for use with a magnetic spectrometer. It consists of a gridded, split anode ionization chamber with two position sensitive wire proportional counters. Simultaneous measurements (with resolution) of the total energy (⩽1.4% fwhm), energy loss (3%), residual energy (range) (5%) and of the position and angle of incidence at the focal plane for each detected ion allows the determination of the reaction angle, the energy, the atomic number, the charge state and the mass for ions as heavy as A = 40.
Implications of stress-pattern differences in spoken-word recognition

Existing models of spoken-word recognition positing that stressed syllables tend to be perceived as word onsets have not provided an account of the processing of non-initial-stress words. The present study suggests that such words require additional, time-consuming processing. Two experiments showed that phoneme monitoring is slower in non-initial-stress than initial-stress words, even when the target-carrying syllable is made identical through splicing. In a third experiment, the processing of non-initial-stress words was also found to be more memory-taxing than that of initial-stress words, a result consistent with the need for additional memory storage generated by incorrect lexical activation in non-initial-stress words. Taken together, the results support the view that words bearing different stress patterns are processed differently, with extra processing required for non-initial-stress words. The implementation of such a distinction is discussed in the framework of current models of word recognition, with an emphasis on processing time-course differences.
Leveraging enzyme structure-function relationships for functional inference and experimental design: the structure-function linkage database.

The study of mechanistically diverse enzyme superfamiliescollections of enzymes that perform different overall reactions but share both a common fold and a distinct mechanistic step performed by key conserved residueshelps elucidate the structure−function relationships of enzymes. We have developed a resource, the structure−function linkage database (SFLD), to analyze these structure−function relationships. Unique to the SFLD is its hierarchical classification scheme based on linking the specific partial reactions (or other chemical capabilities) that are conserved at the superfamily, subgroup, and family levels with the conserved structural elements that mediate them. We present the results of analyses using the SFLD in correcting misannotations, guiding protein engineering experiments, and elucidating the function of recently solved enzyme structures from the structural genomics initiative. The SFLD is freely accessible at http://sfld.rbvi.ucsf.edu.
Coevolutionary interactions between a haploid species and a diploid species.

We investigate a general model describing coevolutionary interaction between a haploid population and a diploid population, each with two alleles at a single locus. Both species are allowed to evolve, with the fitnesses of the genotypes of each species assumed to depend linearly on the frequencies of the genotypes of the other species. We explore the resulting outcomes of these interactions, in particular determining the location of equilibria under various conditions. The coevolution here is much more complex than that between two haploid populations and allows for the possibility of two polymorphic equilibria. To allow for further analysis, we construct a semi-symmetric model. The variety of outcomes possible even in this second model provides support for the geographic mosaic theory of coevolution by suggesting the possibility of small local populations coevolving to very different outcomes, leading to a shifting geographic mosaic as neighboring populations interact with each other through migration.
Annual Physical Examination Reports Vary by Gender Once Teenagers Become Sexually Active

Abstract Introduction Few sexually active male adolescents receive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. To understand this, we examined the association between sexual behavior status and physical examination of the adolescents over time. Methods We conducted longitudinal cohort analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health with 9,239 adolescents who completed the baseline school (1994/1995) and wave 2 (1996) follow-up surveys approximately 1.5 years later (retention rate=71%). The logistic regression models were fitted with random effects to estimate individual odds of reporting a physical examination in the past 12 months at follow-up, compared with baseline, stratified by sexual behavior status and gender, and adjusting for sociodemographic and healthcare access factors. Results In all, 34.5% of male and 38.2% of female adolescents reported experiencing vaginal intercourse by follow-up, and 22.4% of male and 24.7% of female adolescents reported first experiencing intercourse during the study period. Among sexually active adolescents, about half reported having annual physical examinations and one-fifth reported not having any physical examinations. Among female adolescents, baseline to follow-up examination reports significantly increased in the following: sex initiators (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.66–2.64); those reporting sex at both times (OR = 2.16, CI=1.51–3.09); and those reporting no sex either time (OR = 2.47, CI=2.00–3.04). Among male adolescents, baseline to follow-up examination reports significantly increased in those reporting no sex either time (OR = 1.57, CI=1.26–1.96) and showed increasing trends in sex initiators (OR = 1.27, CI=.92–1.76). Discussion A majority of sexually active adolescents report annual physical examinations over time. Providers should not miss opportunities to deliver evidence-based SRH to sexually active adolescents. Future efforts are needed to increase access of all adolescents to SRH services. MeSH Terms Health Services Accessibility, Male, Female
From web designer to researcher: Using experiment patterns to research web design decisions

Web designers are increasingly expected to justify design with empirical evidence. While laboratory-based usability testing helps identify some problems, it is less successful in predicting how sites are used in the wild. Laboratory tests on informational websites can miss subtle effects of writing style, navigation, and graphic design on users' perceptions and performance. During recent years, tools that support automated, remote data collection of web users' behavior on live websites have come to market. These tools typically measure click-paths that lead users to specific landing pages, and do not apply to many scenarios that involve the use of informational websites. We are developing a software toolkit, WebLabUX, that helps web designers perform online experiments and measure the effects of web design variables on users' behavior, site perceptions, and comprehension. One significant challenge we have faced is the creation of a user interface that embodies best practices in online experiment design such that people without formal training in experiment design can successfully use the toolkit. This paper discusses a set of study patterns derived from Redish and Mirel's taxonomy of actions of users when working with information, and we discuss how these patterns can be incorporated into the user interface of WebLabUX.
MTNet: Design of a Wireless Test Framework for Heterogeneous Nanometer Systems-on-Chip

The rapid migration to nanometer design processes has brought an unprecedented level of integration by allowing system designers to pack a wide variety of functionalities on-chip, namely, systems-on-a-chip (SoCs). In the meantime, electronic testing becomes an enabling technology for this SoC paradigm, since the integration of various core tests is a big challenge, and has revealed a widening gap between design and manufacturing. In particular, the increasing complexity and density of nanometer SoCs have led to the problem of visibility and accessibility in testing. In this paper, we propose an integrated wireless test framework to resolve the acerbated core accessibility problem and to eliminate the incompatibility between the existing SoC test strategies and the next generation billion-transistor SoC specification. Under such a test strategy, the intra-chip wireless links form the wireless test access mechanism (TAM) to transport test data chip-wide. We present a self-configurable multi-hop wireless test micronetwork, dubbed MTNet, with simple and efficient data transmission protocols, and develop a system level design-for-testability structure. Consequently, we propose a geographic routing algorithm to find the test access paths for the deeply embedded cores and a path driven test scheduling algorithm to design and integrate the MTNet-based SoC test access architecture. Extensive simulation study show the feasibility and applicability of MTNet.
Interaction between poly(L-lysine48, L-histidine52) and DNA.

Poly(Lys48, His52), a random copolypeptide of L-lysine (48%) and L-histidine (52%), was used as a model protein for investigating the effects of protonation on the imidazole group of histidines on protein binding to DNA. The complexes formed between poly(Lys48, His52) and DNA were examined using absorbance, circular dichroism (CD), and thermal denaturation. Although increasing pH reduces the charges on histidine side chains in the model protein, the protein still binds the DNA with approximately one positive charge per negative charge in protein-bound regions. Nevertheless, CD and melting properties of poly(Lys48, His52)-DNA complexes still depend upon the solution pH which determines the protonation state of imidazole group of histidine side chains. At pH 7.0, the complexes show two characteristic melting bands with a tm (46–51°C) for free base pairs and a t′m (94°C) for protein-bound base pairs. The t′m of the complexes is reduced to 90°C at pH 9.2, although at this pH there is still one lysine per phosphate in protein-bound regions. Presumably, the presence of deprotonated histidine residues destabilizes the native structure of protein-bound DNA. The binding of this model protein to DNA causes a red shift of the crossover point and both a red shift and a reduction of the positive CD band of DNA near 275 nm. This phenomenon is similar to that caused by polylysine binding. These effects, however, are greatly diminished when histidine side chains in the model protein are deprotonated. The structure of already formed poly(Lys48, His52)·DNA complexes can be perturbed by changing the solution pH. However, the results suggest a readjustment of the complex to accommodate charge interactions rather than a full dissociation of the complex followed by reassociation between the model protein and DNA.
Analysis and Parameterization of the Combined Coalescence, Breakup, and Evaporation Processes.

Abstract A parameterization of raindrop coalescence and breakup has been extended to include evaporation. The parameterization is developed through analysis of accurate numerical solutions of the coalescence/breakup/evaporation equation. Modeled drop size distributions are found to evolve first toward a trimodal form characteristic of the equilibrium distribution that occurs when only collisional processes are at work. With sustained evaporation, the trimodality disappears and a unimodal-type drop size distribution emerges. The results imply that the trimodal form occurs when collisional processes are dominant but that a unimodal distribution prevails as the water mass is reduced. The mass reduction causes collisions to become infrequent and allows evaporation to deplete the small-sized raindrop population. When subjected to continued evaporation, the coalescence/breakup equilibrium itself undergoes a transition from trimodal to unimodal form, and it is this evolving form toward which all other drop size ...
Quantifying Tumor Vascular Heterogeneity with Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Review

Tumor microvasculature possesses a high degree of heterogeneity in its structure and function. These features have been demonstrated to be important for disease diagnosis, response assessment, and treatment planning. The exploratory efforts of quantifying tumor vascular heterogeneity with DCE-MRI have led to promising results in a number of studies. However, the methodological implementation in those studies has been highly variable, leading to multiple challenges in data quality and comparability. This paper reviews several heterogeneity quantification methods, with an emphasis on their applications on DCE-MRI pharmacokinetic parametric maps. Important methodological and technological issues in experimental design, data acquisition, and analysis are also discussed, with the current opportunities and efforts for standardization highlighted.
Some basic concepts and issues in community planning

THE AIM OF THIS INTRODUCTORY LECTURE is to outline some basic concepts and issues in community planning, as part of your on-campus orientation to the winter field practice experience. We want to be sure that you have adequate opportunity to connect the theory and practice of social casework, in which all students concentrate at Smith, with the wider professional context of social work and social welfare practice in the community-at-large. We want you to be a keen observer, and, to the extent possible, a participant in the exciting social change activities currently going on in every community where we have Smith field placements. With these purposes in mind, we hope that the concepts we are about to discuss will provide a lens through which you can view and study such key social programs as the attack on poverty; community mental health planning, both locally and regionally; projects concerned with the prevention and control of delinquency; urban renewal efforts; new approaches to income-maintenance aimed at strengthening public assistance; and other types of problem-solving activities which endeavor to enhance community-wide social functioning. Of great help in concentrating the attention of the local community on these problems has been such recent federal action as the Economic Opportunity Act, federal community mental health legislation concerning mental illness and mental retardation, the activity of the President's Committee on Delinquency, and the work of the Urban Renewal Administration. Specifically, we shall identify the following areas which are related to the problems and processes of community planning:
Reaction of Me3Ga and Me3Al with the tertiary-tetraaza analog of adamantane, hexamethylenetetramine (N4-Ada). Syntheses and molecular structures of [(Me3M)n · N4-Ada] (n = 1–4, M Ga or Al)

Abstract Reaction of Me3Al or Me3Ga with hexamethylenetetramine, N4-Ada (Ada = adamantane), in toluene affords the crystalline addition products [(Me3M)n · N4-Ada] (n = 4, M  Ga (I); n = 3, M  Ga (II); n = 3, M  Al (III); n = 2, M  Ga (IV); n = 2, M  Al (V); n = 1, M  Ga (VI). Compound I crystallizes in the triclinic space group P 1 (no. 2) with unit cell parameters a = 10.365(3), b = 11.814(6), c = 11.991(6), A, α = 94.16(4), β = 92.56(3), γ = 92.44(3)°, V = 1461(1), A3, and Dcalc. = 1.36 g cm−3 for Z = 2. Least-squares refinement based on 2600 observed reflections converged at R = 0.075, Rw = 0.089. Compound III crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c (no. 14) with unit cell parameters a = 7.416(2), b = 16.687(6), c = 19.143(6) A, β = 91.71(2)° V = 2368(1) A3, and Dcalc. = 1.00 g cm−3 for Z = 4. Least-squares refinement based on 2235 observed reflections converged at R = 0.085, Rw = 0.102. The mean GaN bond distance in I is 2.29 (3) A, while the corresponding AlN distance is 2.11 (1) A. The GaN distance of 2.318 (9) A in I is the longest such distance reported. A molecular mechanics study was used to show that the sequential addition of Me3M (M  Al or Ga) units to N4-Ada significantly affects the relative Lewis basicities of the nitrogen atoms of the amine.
Role of moisture in adsorption, photocatalytic oxidation, and reemission of elemental mercury on a SiO2-TiO2 nanocomposite.

A novel silica−titania (SiO2−TiO2) nanocomposite has been developed to effectively capture elemental mercury (Hg0) under UV irradiation. Moisture has been reported to have an important impact on th...
Cannabinoid inhibits HIV-1 Tat-stimulated adhesion of human monocyte-like cells to extracellular matrix proteins

Abstract Aims The aim of this study was to assess the effect of select cannabinoids on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transactivating (Tat) protein-enhanced monocyte-like cell adhesion to proteins of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Main methods Collagen IV, laminin, or an ECM gel was used to construct extracellular matrix layers. Human U937 monocyte-like cells were exposed to Tat in the presence of ∆ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), CP55,940, and other select cannabinoids. Cell attachment to ECM proteins was assessed using an adhesion assay. Key findings THC and CP55,940 inhibited Tat-enhanced attachment of U937 cells to ECM proteins in a mode that was linked to the cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2R). The cannabinoid treatment of Tat-activated U937 cells was associated with altered β 1 -integrin expression and distribution of polymerized actin, suggesting a modality by which these cannabinoids inhibited adhesion to the ECM. Significance The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a complex structure that is composed of cellular elements and an extracellular matrix (ECM). HIV-1 Tat promotes transmigration of monocytes across this barrier, a process that includes interaction with ECM proteins. The results indicate that cannabinoids that activate the CB2R inhibit the ECM adhesion process. Thus, this receptor has potential to serve as a therapeutic agent for ablating neuroinflammation associated with HIV-elicited influx of monocytes across the BBB.
Computing with coercions

This paper relates two views of the operational semantics of a language with multiple inheritance. It is shown that the introduction of explicit coercions as an interpretation for the implicit coercion of inheritance does not affect the evaluation of a program in an essential way. The result is proved by semantic means using a denotational model and a computational adequacy result to relate the operational and denotational semantics.
Modeling Many-Task Computing Workloads on a Petaflop IBM Blue Gene/P Supercomputer

Understanding the behavior of Bag-of-Tasks (BOT) is crucial for analyzing workflow-generated Many-Task Computing (MTC) workloads to aid in designing optimized job scheduling systems. Future job scheduling systems will need to be able to schedule large bags of tasks onto large-scale supercomputers and adaptive clouds with heterogeneous processors, I/O performance, and cost, all while minimizing job turn-around time and respecting the upper bound for the user-defined budget. Due to the strong periodicity and self-similarity during long time periods, BOTs have been shown to be an efficient approach for modeling High-Throughput Computing (HTC) workloads. However, applying the same analysis to MTC workloads poses significant challenges due to the significantly larger scale in terms of number of tasks, resource usage, and work granularity. In this paper, we extract two workloads from traces obtained from running MTC applications on a 40K-node IBM Blue Gene/P supercomputer and a 128-node Linux cluster. The traces span a 17-month period, cover 173M tasks, and have an average task runtime of 95 seconds. We propose methods to verify the existence of BOT arrival pattern, and ways to measure their impacts on system performance. We also examine the correlations among several BOT attributes, such as BOT size, runtime, CPU times, and inter-arrival time of BOT. The results show that the interarrival time of the two BOT workloads has Generalized Pareto (GP) distribution, and there are autocorrelations and cross-correlations among the BOT attributes.
Effect of humic acid source on humic acid adsorption onto titanium dioxide nanoparticles

In many studies, different humic acid (HA) sources are used interchangeably to evaluate the effect of organic matter on geochemical processes in the environment. This research looks more specifically at the effect of HA source on HA adsorption onto nano-TiO2 and how HA adsorption affects the fate and transport of nano-TiO2. In this study, six humic acids (HAs) were studied which were derived from soils (SLHA), or from sediments (SDHA) all originating from the state of Florida. Humic acid adsorption onto titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2) and the sedimentation of HA-coated and uncoated nano-TiO2 were monitored by Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. Synchronous scan fluorescence (SSF) spectroscopy was used to complement the study of HA adsorption onto nano-TiO2. Phosphate buffer was found to reduce the amount of HA adsorbed onto nano-TiO2 relative to solutions of NaCl of the same pH and ionic strength. Adsorption constant values (Kads) for HAs varied in the order SLHA>FSDHA (freshwater sedimentary HA)>ESDHA (estuarine sedimentary HA). SSF results suggested that the more highly conjugated fractions of HA, which are more prevalent in SLHAs versus SDHAs, were preferentially adsorbed. In order to better understand the relationship between adsorption and aggregation, sedimentation studies were conducted and it was found that the percentage of nano-TiO2 sedimentation was preferentially enhanced in the order of the presence of SLHA>FSDHA>ESDHA. The extent of nano-TiO2 sedimentation was decreased with increasing HA concentration. TEM imaging of nano-TiO2 confirmed that nano-TiO2 was aggregated in the presence of HAs. The findings in this study suggest that HAs from different sources influence the fate and transport of nano-TiO2 in the environment differently.
Cytoarchitecture and somatic sensory connectivity of thalamic nuclei other than the ventrobasal complex in the cat

This study is a re-examination, using autoradiographic and axonal degeneration methods, of the distribution of spinal, dorsal columnlemniscal and cortico-thalamic fibers within the thalamus of the cat. The emphasis was placed upon making an exact cytoarchitectonic delineation of regions outside the ventrobasal complex which receive spino-thalamic fibers and corticofugal fibers arising in the sensory-motor regions of the cerebral cortex. It is concluded, in agreement with Boivie ('70, '71a,b) that spino-thalamic fibers arising below the level of the lateral cervical nucleus terminate, not in the ventrobasal complex, but in a recognizable portion of the ventrolateral complex adjacent to the ventrobasal complex. This region appears to be also the thalamic relay for Group I muscle afferents. Combined experiments in which, in the same animal, the dorsal column-lemniscal path was labeled autoradiographically and the spino-thalamic path by the Nauta method, indicate virtually no overlap of the two systems in the ventral nuclear complex. Spinal fibers also end in the medial division of the posterior group (Pom), which extends posteriorly as a small-celled zone along the ventromedial aspect of the magnocellular medial geniculate nucleus. Reports of spinal terminations in the magnocellular nucleus proper may result from a failure to recognize the extent of Pom. A third part of the thalamus receiving spinal fibers consists of a posteriorly situated group of large, deeply staining cells belonging to the central lateral nucleus which lie mainly posterior to the internal medullary lamina and which, as Mehler ('69) has mentioned, have previously been confused with the centre median and parafascicular nuclei. Corticofugal fibers arising in the somatic sensory cortex terminate in both the ventrobasal complex and the spinal part of the ventrolateral complex as well as in the central lateral nucleus and Pom and this confirms the work of Rinvik ('68a). Those arising in the motor cortex terminate only in (a different part of) the ventrolateral complex and in the centre median nucleus.
REGULATION OF NEURONAL NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE THROUGH ALTERNATIVE TRANSCRIPTS

Nitric oxide (NO) participates in diverse physiological processes ranging from neurotransmission to muscle relaxation. Neuronal-derived NO can be either beneficial or detrimental depending on the cell
Chemical Control of Eriophyoid Mites on Scots Pine

Three species of eriophyoid mites, Platyphytoptus Sabinianae Keifer, Setoptus jonesi (Keifer), and Trisetacus ehmanni Keifer, have caused severe losses in Scots pine Christmas tree plantations in New York. Hydraulic sprays of carbaryl + oil gave the most effective control but several other toxicants and toxicant + oil combinations afforded a high degree of protection when applied as either hydraulic or mist blower sprays.
RANKL expression in normal and malignant breast tissue responds to progesterone and is up-regulated during the luteal phase

The receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) acts as a paracrine factor in progesterone-induced mammary epithelial proliferation and tumorigenesis. This evidence comes mainly from mouse models. Our aim was to examine whether RANKL expression in human normal and malignant breast is under the control of progesterone throughout the menstrual cycle. Breast epithelial samples were obtained by random fine needle aspiration (rFNA) of the contralateral unaffected breasts (CUB) of 18 breast cancer patients, with simultaneous serum hormone measurements. Genes correlated with serum progesterone levels were identified through Illumina microarray analysis. Validation was performed using qRT-PCR in rFNA samples from CUB of an additional 53 women and using immunohistochemistry in tissue microarrays of 61 breast cancer samples. Expression of RANKL, DIO2, and MYBPC1 was correlated with serum progesterone in CUB, and was significantly higher in luteal phase. RANKL and MYBPC1 mRNA expression were highly correlated between CUB and matched tumor samples. RANKL protein expression was also significantly increased in the luteal phase and highly correlated with serum progesterone levels in cancer samples, especially in hormone receptor positive tumors. The regulatory effects of progesterone on the expression of RANKL, DIO2, and MYBPC1 were confirmed in three-dimensional cultures of normal breast organoids. In normal breast and in breast cancer, RANKL mRNA and protein expression fluctuate with serum progesterone with highest levels in the luteal phase, suggesting that RANKL is a modulator of progesterone signaling in normal and malignant breast tissue and a potential biomarker of progesterone action and blockade.
Management of Anti-EGFR-Targeting Monoclonal Antibody-Induced Hypomagnesemia

Targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has proven to be of clinical benefit in the management of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). While the use of small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors in this setting has not shown any significant activity and has been associated with increased gastrointestinal toxicity when combined with chemotherapy, a different picture has emerged with the use of EGFR-targeting monoclonal antibodies.
Parkin Ubiquitinates Tar-DNA Binding Protein-43 (TDP-43) and Promotes Its Cytosolic Accumulation via Interaction with Histone Deacetylase 6 (HDAC6)

The importance of E3 ubiquitin ligases, involved in the degradation of misfolded proteins or promotion of protein-protein interaction, is increasingly recognized in neurodegeneration. TDP-43 is a predominantly nuclear protein, which regulates the transcription of thousands of genes and binds to mRNA of the E3 ubiquitin ligase Parkin to regulate its expression. Wild type and mutated TDP-43 are detected in ubiquitinated forms within the cytosol in several neurodegenerative diseases. We elucidated the mechanisms of TDP-43 interaction with Parkin using transgenic A315T mutant TDP-43 (TDP43-Tg) mice, lentiviral wild type TDP-43, and Parkin gene transfer rat models. TDP-43 expression increased Parkin mRNA and protein levels. Lentiviral TDP-43 increased the levels of nuclear and cytosolic protein, whereas Parkin co-expression mediated Lys-48 and Lys-63-linked ubiquitin to TDP-43 and led to cytosolic co-localization of Parkin with ubiquitinated TDP-43. Parkin and TDP-43 formed a multiprotein complex with HDAC6, perhaps to mediate TDP-43 translocation. In conclusion, Parkin ubiquitinates TDP-43 and facilitates its cytosolic accumulation through a multiprotein complex with HDAC6.
Surf zone surface displacement measurements using interferometric microwave radar

Vertically polarized backscattered power, Doppler velocity, and interferometric height were measured in the nearshore ocean region using a high-resolution imaging microwave radar. The interferometric surface displacement measurements are compared with normalized radar cross sections (NRCS) and Doppler velocities, and with in situ pressure sensor estimates of wave height. The rms uncertainty in the interferometric surface displacement is computed from the data. The interferometric surface displacement measurements are intuitively satisfying in that positive displacements are generally associated with pixels that have larger NRCS values. Interferometric surface displacements compare well with heights derived from in situ pressure sensors, and we provide some possible explanations for the differences.
In vitro release of progesterone and estrone by the porcine placenta throughout gestation

In vitro release of progesterone (P4) and estrone (E1) by the porcine placenta was characterized at 12 days of gestation between d 20 and 110. Placental P4 rose linearly from d 25 to 40, plateaued between d 40 and 50, continued to increase to a peak concentration at d 100, then decreased sharply to d 110. Placental E1 decreased abruptly from d 30 to a nadir at d 40, then increased continuously from d 70 to peak values at d 110. This biphasic pattern for E1 mimicked the pattern observed in allantoic fluid and maternal plasma pools. Only trace amounts of testosterone (T) were measured at d 20, 50, 60, and 100, suggesting rapid aromatization of C19 steroids to estrogens. The results of this in vitro study indicate that the porcine placenta collected throughout gestation can release large quantities of P4, although the lack of an increase in systemic P4 suggests that under in vivo conditions P4 is utilized and/or metabolized within the uterus.
Canine brucellosis: An annotated review with selected cautionary comments

Abstract Canine brucellosis is an established disease of dogs, world-wide in occurrence and erratic in its clinical manifestations. It poses the greatest problem to breeders of dogs, especially to those engaged in the production of animals for research purposes and to owners of purebred animals. It has been found to affect dogs of all breeds. Human infections also have been diagnosed. The diagnosis by serological means alone is attended by great risk. Dogs found positive by one or more serological tests should be further studied by cultures of blood and, when possible, lymph node or bone marrow cultures. Each case presents unique problems that may be resolved only by careful clinical and laboratory examinations, often requiring multiple samplings. There presently is no completely effective treatment, although success in individual cases has been achieved. Immunoprophylactic agents have not been effective. Infected dogs should be destroyed if they are used for commercial breeding purposes. Family dogs present unique problems that may be resolved only by their isolation until recovery (which may take up to 3 years) or euthanasia. Intensive antibiotic therapy may be of value; however, they should be followed by periodic serologic and/or bacteriologic monitoring following treatment. Transmission probably can be interrupted by castration of infected males, or by spaying of females, followed by a course of antibiotic treatment. Knowledge of many aspects of this disease is fragmentary. The veterinarian must be one on whom we set our hopes when an animal is ill; not our dogs when well. Canine brucellosis is a disease that requires exceptional diagnostic skill beyond the ability to observe clumping of red-stained bacteria after mixing with a drop of serum on a slide. This does not imply that the rapid slide test is not useful, for a negative test provides reliable information; a positive test indicates that further testing is necessary.
Evidence for Paleoproterozoic, Grenvillian, and Pan-African age Gondwanan crust beneath northeastern Mexico

Abstract A number of previous studies including two recent reconstructions of Rodinia have considered the Grenvillian basement of Mexico to be continuous with the Laurentian basement of Texas. Isotopic studies and U–Pb dating of zircons from Precambrian granitoids that occur as cobbles and boulders in a Paleozoic conglomerate exposed in the state of Coahuila, northeastern Mexico, indicate the region is underlain by Gondwanan rather than Laurentian basement. Essentially nothing was known of the basement before this study because the region is blanketed with Phanerozoic sedimentary and volcanic deposits. Nine out of ten analyzed samples have Grenvillian crystallization ages (1232±7 to 1214±2 Ma). This phase of magmatic activity in northeastern Mexico was coeval with the construction of volcanic arcs in east-central and southern Mexico (∼1220–1150 Ma), but was later than the arc magmatism of Laurentia (e.g., Elzevirian arcs, >1230 Ma, in Texas and the Grenville Province). A subset of the Grenvillian samples contains xenocrystic ∼1.85 Ga zircons, which are the first evidence of Paleoproterozoic crust south of the Paleozoic Ouachita suture in Mexico. The remaining sample has a Pan-African crystallization age (580±4 Ma), and this is the first sample of Pan-African age basement found in Mexico. The Pan-African orogeny marked the assembly of Gondwana, and Laurentia was unaffected by that event. Two lines of evidence argue that some of the Grenvillian rocks of northeastern Mexico were affected by a Pan-African age event. First, two of the Grenvillian clasts have U–Pb lower intercept ages within error of 580 Ma. Second common Pb and Nd isotopic compositions of the Pan-African granite strongly suggest that it was derived either by melting of Grenvillian basement or by assimilating massive amounts of that basement. Thus far, no other Grenvillian terrane is known to have the exact combination of Nd–Pb isotopic compositions and absolute ages as the Coahuila samples although there are some similarities with the Santa Marta massif of Colombia and the Cordillera de Merida of Venezuela.
Rac Guanosine Triphosphatases Represent Integrating Molecular Therapeutic Targets for BCR-ABL-Induced Myeloproliferative Disease

Summary Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a clonal myeloproliferative disease (MPD) initiated by expression of the p210-BCR-ABL fusion protein. We demonstrate in a murine model of p210-BCR-ABL-induced MPD that gene targeting of Rac1 and Rac2 significantly delays or abrogates disease development. Attenuation of the disease phenotype is associated with severely diminished p210-BCR-ABL-induced downstream signaling in primary hematopoietic cells. We utilize NSC23766, a small molecule antagonist of Rac activation, to validate biochemically and functionally Rac as a molecular target in both a relevant animal model and in primary human CML cells in vitro and in a xenograft model in vivo, including in Imatinib-resistant p210-BCR-ABL disease. These data demonstrate that Rac is an additional therapeutic target in p210-BCR-ABL-mediated MPD.
The Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase HMWP2 Forms a Thiazoline Ring during Biogenesis of Yersiniabactin, an Iron-Chelating Virulence Factor of Yersinia pestis†

Pathogenic Yersinia species have been shown to synthesize a siderophore molecule, yersiniabactin, as a virulence factor during iron starvation. Here we provide the first biochemical evidence for the role of the Yersinia pestis high molecular weight protein 2 (HMWP2), a nonribosomal peptide synthetase homologue, and YbtE in the initiation of yersiniabactin biosynthesis. YbtE catalyzes the adenylation of salicylate and the transfer of this activated salicyl group to the N-terminal aryl carrier protein domain (ArCP; residues 1-100) of HMWP2. A fragment of HMWP2, residues 1-1491, can adenylate cysteine and with the resulting cysteinyl-AMP autoaminoacylate the peptidyl carrier protein domain (PCP1; residues 1383-1491) either in cis or in trans. Catalytic release of hydroxyphenylthiazoline carboxylic acid (HPT-COOH) and/or N-(hydroxyphenylthiazolinylcarbonyl)cysteine (HPT-cys) is observed upon incubation of YbtE, HMWP2 1-1491, L-cysteine, salicylate, and ATP. These products presumably arise from nucleophilic attack by water or cysteine of a stoichiometric hydroxyphenylthiazolinylcarbonyl-S-PCP1-HMWP2 intermediate. Detection of the heterocyclization capacity of HMWP2 1-1491 implies salicyl-transferring and thiazoline-forming activity for the HMWP2 condensation domain (residues 101-544) and is the first demonstration of such heterocyclization ability in a nonribosomal peptide synthetase enzyme.
Targeted α-Particle Radiotherapy with 211At-labeled Monoclonal Antibodies

An attractive feature of targeted radionuclide therapy is the ability to select radionuclides and targeting vehicles with characteristics that are best suited for a particular clinical application. One combination that has been receiving increasing attention is the use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specifically reactive to receptors and antigens that are expressed in tumor cells to selectively deliver the alpha-particle-emitting radiohalogen astatine-211 (211At) to malignant cell populations. Promising results have been obtained in preclinical models with multiple 211At-labeled mAbs; however, translation of the concept to the clinic has been slow. Impediments to this process include limited radionuclide availability, the need for suitable radiochemistry methods operant at high activity levels and lack of data concerning the toxicity of alpha-particle emitters in humans. Nonetheless, two clinical trials have been initiated to date with 211At-labeled mAbs, and others are planned for the near future.
Chromosome abnormalities in human reproductive wastage

Abstract Chromosome abnormalities are the single most important causes of fetal wastage in clinically recognizable human pregnancies. The incidence and variety of errors observed among the aborted fetuses makes them an excellent source of material for studying the etiology of human chromosome abnormalities.