cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Secreted Human CLCA1 Activates Calcium-Dependent Chloride Currents via Interaction with TMEM16A (Anoctamin 1)

The calcium-activated chloride channel (CaCC) regulator (CLCA) proteins were so named because their expression leads to generation of calcium-dependent chloride currents (ICaCC) in mammalian cells; however, the molecular identity of the channel(s) mediating these currents, and the mechanisms through which CLCA1 regulates their activity, have remained unknown. In a previous study, we showed that human CLCA1 is a secreted self-cleaving zincin metalloprotease, and the resulting N-terminal fragment increases ICaCC density in HEK293T cells (J. Biol. Chem. 287, 42138-49, 2012). Here, we found that the same type of currents are activated in untransfected cells co-cultured with CLCA1-transfected cells or exposed to CLCA1-conditioned medium, indicating that secreted CLCA1 can activate ICaCC in a paracrine fashion. Because CLCA1 and the CaCC TMEM16A (Anoctamin 1) are expressed in the same tissues, such as the airway epithelia, and are upregulated in the same pathologic states, such as asthma and COPD, we tested the hypothesis that CLCA1-modulated currents are carried by TMEM16A. We observed that CLCA1-induced whole-cell ICaCC in HEK293T cells overexpressing the protein is blocked in the presence of TMEM16A-specific inhibitors T16Ainh-A01 and N-((4-methoxy)-2-naphthyl)-5-nitroanhtranilic acid, and silenced in the presence of TMEM16A siRNA. By means of live cell flow cytometry assays using a novel fluorescent CLCA probe, we demonstrate that CLCA1 and TMEM16A physically interact at the cell surface, and our real-time qPCR, immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy data suggest that CLCA1 drives TMEM16A surface expression. These results identify CLCA1 as the first secreted direct mediator of TMEM16A activity, and suggest that CLCA1 and TMEM16A operate together to generate ICaCC in multiple tissues.
A useful tool for image enhancement

Image enhancement provides a means to facilitate information transfer without altering the image information. A plug-in for the commonly used image capture and manipulation program Photoshop™ is discussed as one useful tool.
A problem of Zarankiewicz

Abstract Zarankiewicz, in problem P 101, Colloq. Math., 2 (1951), p. 301, and others have posed the following problem: Determine the least positive integer kα,β(m, n) so that if a 0,1-matrix of size m by n contains kα,β(m, n) ones then it must have an α by β submatrix consisting entirely of ones. This paper improves upon previously known upper bounds for kα,β(m, n) by proving that k αβ (m,n)⩾ 1+((β−1) ( p α−1 ))( m α ) + ((p+1)(α−1) α )n for each integer p greater than or equal to α − 1. Each of these inequalities is better than the others for a specific range of values of n. Equality is shown to hold infinitely often for each value of p. Finally some applications of this result are made to arrangements of lines in the projective plane.
An energy-based population-balance approach to model granule growth and breakage in high-shear wet granulation processes

A mathematical model of high shear wet granulation is proposed, where granule breakage, and not growth, is the dominant process. The energy required for granule breakage is assumed to be provided by the impact of granules between themselves and the granulator parts, and the extent of granule breakage determined by the balance between the impactenergy and the work of adhesion between the agglomerating particles. A specific volume of dry powder per unit crack surface area was allowed to reattach to the surface of broken granules to account for granule growth. To verify proposed model conditions, lactose monohydrate was granulated with a relatively low amount (6%) of the binder phase, polyvinyl-pyrrolidone and water, and was added to the powder before granulation.
Food and Nutrient Contribution of Breakfast to the Total Diet

Abstract LEARNING OUTCOME: To examine the role of breakfast in the diets of Americans including contribution to daily food and nutrient intake. The nutritional role of breakfast in American diets was examined by computing mean food and nutrient intakes from breakfast and the total diet, from food intake records from the USDA's 1994 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals. The study used SPSS software package to compute means of all individuals (5540), except breast-fed children, with complete day one food intake records, including 754 who did not have breakfast. Results indicated that breakfast supplied 59 grams of total grain products, 20% of the day's total, and an average of 1.5 food-guide servings. Cooked oatmeal and white bread were the top single grain-based foods while ready-to-eat cereals combined averaged less than half a food-guide serving. Breakfast provided about 71% of daily eggs, 45% of daily milk, and 38% of daily fruits (orange and apple fruits and juices, bananas, melons, grapefruits). Servings amounted to slightly less than 0.5 each for fruits, milk, and meat or meat alternates. Breakfast provided less than 20% of the day's calories, fat, protein, carbohydrate, and fiber but about 25 – 30% of vitamin C, riboflavin, calcium, and iron, and one third of the folate. Among the food consumed at breakfast, grain products provided the highest amounts of calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamin A, folate, and iron, and were second to milk for calcium. Fruits provided a high amount of vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, and potassium. Milk products were the highest contributor of calcium and potassium and were the second highest provider of calories, fat, protein, and vitamin A. The highest amount of cholesterol came from eggs. Excluding the non-breakfast eaters from analysis did not alter the findings appreciably. This study shows that breakfast is a nutrient dense meal. Individuals could improve their overall diets by increasing grain and fruit intakes at breakfast.
Approximate analysis of open networks of queues with blocking: Tandem configurations

An approximation procedure is developed for the analysis of tandem configurations consisting of single server finite queues linked in series. External arrivals occur at the first queue which may be either finite or infinite. Departures from the queuing network may only occur from the last queue. All service times and interarrival times are assumed to be exponentially distributed. The approximation algorithm gives results in the form of the marginal probability distribution of the number of units in each queue of the tandem configuration. Other performance measures, such as mean queue-length and throughput, can be readily obtained. The approximation procedure was validated using exact and simulation data. The approximate results seem to have an acceptable error level.
A Novel Technique for Endovascular Removal of Large Volume Right Atrial Tumor Thrombus

Venous thromboembolic disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly in the setting of large volume pulmonary embolism. Thrombolytic therapy has been shown to be a successful treatment modality; however, its use somewhat limited due to the risk of hemorrhage and potential for distal embolization in the setting of large mobile thrombi. In patients where either thrombolysis is contraindicated or unsuccessful, and conventional therapies prove inadequate, surgical thrombectomy may be considered. We present a case of percutaneous endovascular extraction of a large mobile mass extending from the inferior vena cava into the right atrium using the Angiovac device, a venovenous bypass system designed for high-volume aspiration of undesired endovascular material. Standard endovascular methods for removal of cancer-associated thrombus, such as catheter-directed lysis, maceration, and exclusion, may prove inadequate in the setting of underlying tumor thrombus. Where conventional endovascular methods either fail or are unsuitable, endovascular thrombectomy with the Angiovac device may be a useful and safe minimally invasive alternative to open resection.
Backorder minimization in multiproduct assemble-to-order systems

We consider a multiproduct assemble-to-order system. Components are built to stock with inventory controlled by base-stock rules, but the final products are assembled to order. Customer orders of each product follow a batch Poisson process. The leadtimes for replenishing component inventory are stochastic. We study the optimal allocation of a given budget among component inventories so as to minimize a weighted average of backorders over product types. We derive easy-to-compute bounds and approximations for the expected number of backorders and use them to formulate surrogate optimization problems. Efficient algorithms are developed to solve these problems, and numerical examples illustrate the effectiveness of the bounds and approximations. Contributed by the Supply Chains/Production-Inventory Systems Department
Activation of rat brain tryptophan hydroxylase by polyelectrolytes.

Abstract The in vitro activity of rat brain tryptophan hydroxylase is increased 2-fold by heparin and 4-fold by dextran sulfate. Other polysaccharides including hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate and dermatan sulfate, as well as the unsulfated polymer dextran, do not alter hydroxylase activity. The effect of heparin or dextran sulfate on tryptophan hydroxylase is manifested kinetically as a decrease in the apparent K m of the enzyme for both substrates 6-methyl-tetrahydropterin (6-MPH 4 ) and tryptophan, as well as increases in the tV max values. A variety of polyanions (DNA, glycogen, poly- d - and poly- l -glutamic acid) have no effect on tryptophan hydroxylase, whereas salts [NaCl, KCl, (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and MgSO 4 ] inhibit the enzyme, indicating that the effects of heparin and dextran sulfate on tryptophan hydroxylase are not mediated by increases in ionic strength per se . Several lines of data suggest that tryptophan hydroxylase binds ionically to these polyelectrolytes: (1) the activation produced by heparin and dextran sulfate diminishes as the ionic strength of the assay medium increases, (2) tryptophan hydroxylase binds to heparin-substituted Sepharose 4B and is eluted by increasing the ionic strength of the eluant buffer, and (3) large molecular weight dextran sulfate (mol. wt = 500,000) dramatically shifts the elution profile of tryptophan hydroxylase from a K av of 0.41 to a K av of 0.10 on a Sepharose/CL-6B column. Taken together, these data suggest that the binding of certain polyelectrolytes to tryptophan hydroxylase may induce a conformational change in the enzyme which results in increased catalytic activity.
Laterality of lesions and trait-anxiety on working memory performance.

An asymmetry of anterior cerebral activation favoring the right hemisphere has been associated with dispositional negative affect including trait-anxiety, while the opposite appears true of cerebral asymmetry favoring the left hemisphere. It was hypothesized that an asymmetry of cerebral activation, as defined by scores on a measure of trait-anxiety, ipsilateral to the side of an anterior brain lesion would be associated with less efficient cognitive processing than greater activation in the hemisphere contralateral to the lesion. Patients with anterior left (n = 16) or right (n = 15) hemisphere lesions completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and several neurocognitive tasks. Of the abilities tested, only Digit Span scores showed an interaction between side of lesion and presumed activation asymmetry. Patients with right- but not with left-hemisphere damage showed significant differences in working memory performance depending on the presumed direction of asymmetry of the two hemispheres, supporting t...
Alcohol and sleep in young adults.

In two separate experiments, sleep patterns of 17 young male adults were examined following single and repeated doses (0.9 g/kg body weight) of alcohol. A third study of 10 additional Ss measured the rate of elimination of alcohol from blood during sleep and waking. With a single dose of alcohol, onset of sleep was brisk, the latency of SW sleep (stages 3+4) was reduced and the first episode of stage REM was shortened. These transient alterations were accompanied by loss of high-frequency beta rhythms in the EEG and a gain in abundance and synchrony of activity in the alpha-rhythm range.
High Thermoelectric Performance in PbTe Due to Large Nanoscale Ag2Te Precipitates and La Doping

Thermoelectrics are being rapidly developed for waste heat recovery applications, particularly in automobiles, to reduce carbon emissions. PbTe-based materials with small ( 1.5 at 775 K.
Commentary on: "Egoless Writing: Improving Quality by Replacing Artistic Impulse with Engineering Discipline"

Changing needs in technical communications alter but are far from eliminating the personal satisfactions of the individual practitioner. They expand rather than contract opportunities.
Evaluation of sediment and phosphorus management practices in the White Clay Lake watershed

To evaluate the effects of management practices for protection of water quality in White Clay Lake (Wisconsin), surface and lake waters were monitored for a six-year period before and during structural and management changes for nonpoint pollution source control. The incremental nature of implementing controls combined with the annual variations in sediment and nutrient transport confounded obvious changes in water quality. So, several models were linked together to define loadings from specific land uses and to assess the effects of management changes and animal waste control measures designed to reduce sediment and phosphorus losses. The importance of including the thaw and snowmelt factor in the determination of erosion index for the Universal Soil Loss Equation was demonstrated. Model predictions of average annual phosphorus loading showed a 54 percent reduction following the installation of manure storage facilities and barnyard runoff controls, and a 22 percent reduction through changes in cropland management. The model also predicted a 29 percent reduction in sediment loading. The value of a peripheral wetland for retention of sediment and phosphorus was quantified. Changes in lake water quality attributable to the watershed work were not observed, but maintenance of existing good water quality as a result of this project is anticipated.
Wage-Price Flexibility, Exchange Rate Flexibility, Capital Controls, and the Adjustment Speed in the Money Market

The speed with which macro variables in the money market adjust toward their long-run equilibrium values has great implication for the effectiveness of monetary policy. Previous research shows that the adjustment speed is higher in more open economies. In this paper, we introduce three additional determinants of adjustment speed. More precisely, we argue that more wage-price flexibility, more exchange rate flexibility, and less restriction on capital flows foster the speed of adjustment. Empirically, a cross-sectional model is specified in which adjustment speed is treated as the dependent variable and a measure of openness, a measure of wage-price flexibility, a measure of exchange rate flexibility, and black market premium as a measure of capital controls are treated as independent variables. After estimating the adjustment speed using the bounds testing approach to cointegration and error-correction modeling for 28 developing countries and after constructing the other four independent variables for the same countries, we estimate different variants of the cross-sectional model.
Pyrimidine nucleotides impair phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP) synthetase subunit aggregation by sequestering magnesium. A mechanism for the decreased PRPP synthetase activity in hereditary erythrocyte pyrimidine 5′-nucleotidase deficiency

The activity of phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP) synthetase (ATP: D-ribose-5-phosphate pyrophosphotransferase, EC 2.7.6.1) is decreased in the erythrocyte in hereditary pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase (P5N) deficiency. Given the increased pyrimidine nucleotide content of the P5N-deficient erythrocyte, we evaluated the effects of prototypic pyrimidine nucleotides on the activity of PRPP synthetase. In normal hemolysate a 1.0 mM combination of cytidine tri-, di- and monophosphate (CTP/CDP/CMP) inhibited PRPP synthetase activity and changed the ribose 5-phosphate (R5P) saturation curve from a hyperbola to a biphasic shape. Untreated crude hemolysate from P5N-deficient erythrocytes showed a biphasic R5P kinetic curve. Since the activity of PRPP synthetase is dependent on its state of subunit aggregation, we examined PRPP synthetase subunit aggregation using gel permeation chromatography. P5N-deficient erythrocytes had a decreased absolute amount of aggregated PRPP synthetase and almost a total loss of disaggregated PRPP synthetase. Using normal hemolysate, 1 mM CTP/CDP/CMP interfered with the ability of 1.0 mM ATP and 2.0 mM MgCl2 to promote PRPP synthetase subunit aggregation. Increasing the MgCl2 to 6.0 mM overcame the inhibitory effect of CTP/CDP/CMP. Thus, the decreased PRPP synthetase activity of the P5N-deficient erythrocyte is due, at least in part, to the ability of the accumulated pyrimidine nucleotides to sequester magnesium and to interfere with the subunit aggregation of PRPP synthetase.
Training with heterogeneous data

Data pruning and ordered training are two methods used to train a learner with heterogeneous data. The former is a typical procedure that attempts to factor out noise from the data; the latter is a novel method that partitions the data into a number of categories and assigns training times to those assuming that data size and training time have a polynomial relation. In its current form, ordered training is an approximate and a priori data-emphasizing method. Both methods have been applied to a time-delay neural network - which is one of the main learners in Microsoft's Tablet PC handwriting recognition system. Their effect on the learner is presented in this paper. The handwriting data and the chosen language are Italian.
Effect of haemoglobin and endogenous erythropoietin on hypothalamic‐pituitary thyroidal and gonadal secretion: an analysis of anaemic (high EPO) and polycythaemic (low EPO) patients

Summary OBJECTIVE Correction of anaemia with recombinant human erythropoietin (rHu-EPO) Improves the responsiveness of thyroidal and gonadal axes to exogenous TRH and GnRH In chronic haemodialysis patients, but the mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. In order to assess the Influences of endogenous erythropoietin on the hypothalamo-hypophyseal thyroidal and gonadal axes, we studied the response of polycythaemic and anaemic patients, In comparison to normal controls, after the administration of exogenous TRH and GnRH. DESIGN Exogenous hypothalamic factors, 500μg TRH and 100μg GnRH, were administered as a bolus and blood samples were obtained over a 3-hour period at 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 minutes. PATIENTS Five male polycythaemic patients (low EPO), three male anaemic patients (high EPO) and six normal age and sex matched controls were studied. MEASUREMENTS Blood samples were centrifuged Immediately and the serum was stored at −20°C until assayed for total T4, free T4, free T3, TSH, prolactin, growth hormone (TRH test), and FSH, LH, testosterone (GnRH test). Haematological parameters and biochemical profiles were also measured. RESULTS After TRH administration, both patient groups showed a normal TSH response; however, their free T4 and free T3 secretion was blunted compared to controls. Normal basal PRL levels Increased in an exaggerated fashion, whereas, when compared to chronic renal failure patients on chronic haemodialysls, we did not see a paradoxical GH response or a basal GH Increase in these 5 patients. GnRH administration In the study groups elicited a normalization In the LH response without an increase in testosterone levels; however, an exaggerated FSH response was found in the polycythaemic patients (low EPO) CONCLUSIONS Thus by Investigating the role of low endogenous EPO levels In non-anaemic and anaemic patients with high EPO levels, our study suggests that the underlying chronic disease state may be the major contributing factor in the regulation of the hypothalamo-hypophyseal thyroid and gonadal axes, rather than the EPO levels.
Parent Reports of Sensory Experiences of Preschool Children With and Without Autism: A Qualitative Study

This study describes sensory experiences of children with and without autism. Parents of 66 preschoolers (29 typically developing; 37 with autism) described situations in which their child had "good" and "bad" sensory experiences and their perception of how these situations felt to the child. The most common unpleasant experiences for both groups related to sound; the most common pleasant experiences involved touch and movement. Children with autism were reported to have more extreme or unusual experiences and negative food-related experiences than typically developing peers. Parental explanations for children's responses focused on the qualities of the child, stimulus, or context. Parents of children with autism were more likely to recognize elements in their children's experiences as being sensory and to attribute those responses to aspects of autism. Parents' positive response to the interview itself was an unexpected result with clinical relevance.
Distributed join processing using bipartite graphs

Distributed query processing algorithms usually perform data reduction by using a semijoin program but the problem with these approaches is that they still require an explicit join of the reduced relations an the final phase. We introduce an efficient algorithm for join processing in distributed database systems that makes use of bipartite graphs in order to reduce data communication costs and local processing costs. The bipartite graphs represent the tuples that can be joined in two relations taking into account also the reduction state of the relations. This algorithm fully reduces the relations at each site. We then present a partitioning algorithm for response time optimization that takes into account the system configuration, i.e., the additional resources available. We also report on the results of a set of experiments that show that our algorithms outperform a number of the recently proposed methods for total processing time and response time minimization.
Modeling electron mobility in MBE-grown InAs/AlSb thin films for HEMT applications using neural networks

Statistical experimental design was used to explore the effects of the HEMT channel growth parameters on device performance. A 2/sup 2/ full-factorial central composite circumscribed Box-Wilson design with three center points was implemented. The growth parameters under investigation were the channel growth temperature and interface formation, both of which greatly impact device operation. Interface formation was defined as the method used to form the InAs/AlSb interface.
Taxon-rich phylogenomic analyses resolve the eukaryotic tree of life and reveal the power of subsampling by sites.

Most eukaryotic lineages are microbial, and many have only recently been sampled for phylogenetic studies or remain in the "dark area" of the tree of life where there are no molecular data. To assess relationships among eukaryotic lineages, we perform a taxon-rich phylogenomic analysis including 232 eukaryotes selected to maximize taxonomic diversity and up to 1554 genes chosen as vertically inherited based on their broad distribution among eukaryotes. We also include sequences from 486 bacteria and 84 archaea to assess the impact of endosymbiotic gene transfer (EGT) from plastids and to detect contamination. Overall, our analyses are consistent with other less taxon-rich estimates of the eukaryotic tree of life, and we recover strong support for five major clades: Amoebozoa, Excavata (without the genus Malawimonas), Opisthokonta, Archaeplastida, and SAR (Stramenopila, Alveolata, and Rhizaria). Our analyses also highlight the existence of "orphan" lineages, lineages that lack robust placement in the eukaryotic tree of life, and indicate the possibility of as yet undiscovered diversity. In analyses including bacteria and archaea, we find that approximately 10% of the 1554 genes, which we choose because they are found in four or five of the five major eukaryotic clades and hence may be more likely to be inherited vertically, appear to have been acquired from cyanobacteria through EGT in photosynthetic lineages. Removing these EGT genes places the green algae as sister to the glaucophytes instead of the red algae, suggesting that unknowingly including genes of plastid origin, and combining them with genes of nuclear origin, may mislead phylogenetic estimates. Finally, the large size of our data set allows comparative analyses of subsets of data; alignments built from randomly sampled sites provide greater support, particularly for deep relationships, than do equivalent-sized data sets built from randomly sampled genes. (Endosymbiotic gene transfer; eukaryotic phylogeny; microbial diversity; phylogenetics; sampling strategy; tree of life.)
Adhesive strength of guanidine hydrochloride—modified soy protein for fiberboard application

Abstract Adhesive properties of guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl)-modified soy protein isolate (SPI) for uses in fiberboard were investigated. In addition, effects of GuHCl concentration, SPI concentration, press conditions, and assembly time on gluing strength were studied. Shear strength changed with variation of GuHCl concentration and had a maximum value at 1.0 M GuHCl. Increasing the SPI content improved shear strength greatly at a low concentration, and increasing SPI to high concentrations had little additional effect. Overall shear strength decreased after water soaking, but showed same trends with GuHCl concentration and with SPI content as unsoaked samples. Shear strength increased as press temperature increased but leveled off at high temperature. Press temperature had a greater effect on the soaked samples. Both press time and assembly time had significant effects on shear strength. The maximum shear strength was obtained with a press time of 5 min and assembly times of 10–15 min, respectively. All samples prepared at 75°C or above exhibited cohesive failure within fiberboard. However, samples prepared at 25°C and 50°C showed both cohesive failures within fiberboard and locus of failure following the interface between the adhesive and adherend. Furthermore, some glued specimens fell apart after soaking.
Grounded Learning Experience: Helping Students Learn Physics through Visuo-Haptic Priming and Instruction

Grounded Learning Experience: Helping Students Learn Physics through Visuo-Haptic Priming and Instruction Shih-Chieh Douglas Huang In this dissertation, I investigate the effects of a grounded learning experience on college students’ mental models of physics systems. The grounded learning experience consisted of a priming stage and an instruction stage, and within each stage, one of two different types of visuo-haptic representation was applied: visuo-gestural simulation (visual modality and gestures) and visuo-haptic simulation (visual modality, gestures, and somatosensory information). A pilot study involving N = 23 college students examined how using different types of visuo-haptic representation in instruction affected people’s mental model construction for physics systems. Participants’ abilities to construct mental models were operationalized through their pretest-to-posttest gain scores for a basic physics system and their performance on a transfer task involving an advanced physics system. Findings from this pilot study revealed that, while both simulations significantly improved participants’ mental modal construction for physics systems, visuo-haptic simulation was significantly better than visuo-gestural simulation. In addition, clinical interviews suggested that participants’ mental model construction for physics systems benefited from receiving visuo-haptic simulation in a tutorial prior to the instruction stage. A dissertation study involving N = 96 college students examined how types of visuo-haptic representation in different applications support participants’ mental model construction for physics systems. Participant’s abilities to construct mental models were again operationalized through their pretest-to-posttest gain scores for a basic physics system and their performance on a transfer task involving an advanced physics system. Participants’ physics misconceptions were also measured before and after the grounded learning experience. Findings from this dissertation study not only revealed that visuo-haptic simulation was significantly more effective in promoting mental model construction and remedying participants’ physics misconceptions than visuo-gestural simulation, they also revealed that visuo-haptic simulation was more effective during the priming stage than during the instruction stage. Interestingly, the effects of visuo-haptic simulation in priming and visuo-haptic simulation in instruction on participants’ pretest-to-posttest gain scores for a basic physics system appeared additive. These results suggested that visuo-haptic simulation is effective in physics learning, especially when it is used during the priming stage.
Mitochondrial Cell Death Suppressors Carried by Human and Murine Cytomegalovirus Confer Resistance to Proteasome Inhibitor-Induced Apoptosis

Human cytomegalovirus carries a mitochondria-localized inhibitor of apoptosis (vMIA) that is conserved in primate cytomegaloviruses. We find that inactivating mutations within UL37x1, which encodes vMIA, do not substantially affect replication in TownevarATCC (Towne-BAC), a virus that carries a functional copy of the betaherpesvirus-conserved viral inhibitor of caspase 8 activation, the UL36 gene product. In Towne-BAC infection, vMIA reduces susceptibility of infected cells to intrinsic death induced by proteasome inhibition. vMIA is sufficient to confer resistance to proteasome inhibition when expressed independent of viral infection. Murine cytomegalovirus m38.5, whose position in the viral genome is analogous to UL37x1, exhibits mitochondrial association and functions in much the same manner as vMIA in inhibiting intrinsic cell death. This work suggests a common role for vMIA in rodent and primate cytomegaloviruses, modulating the threshold of virus-infected cells to intrinsic cell death.
Diagnosis of Acute Myocarditis with Radiolabeled Monoclonal Antimyosin Antibody: Immunoscintigraphic Evaluation

Myocarditis may be difficult to diagnose due to the paucity of common clinical and laboratory findings. The gold standard for diagnosis of acute myocarditis is the histopathological examination of endomyocardial biopsy samples for evidence of myocyte necrosis with concurrent cellular infiltrates [1]. Although this method is highly specific, endomyocardial biopsy is relatively insensitive because of the limited number of biopsy samples which can be obtained from each patient, and the focal nature of the disease in some patients. The disease may only cause necrosis in a portion of one ventricle. Since the biopsy can only sample the endocardium, necrosis involving only the epicardium or mid-portion of the myocardium cannot be appreciated from histological examination of the specimen. A method of evaluating necrosis at any location in the myocardium would help to identify patients with myocarditis. To determine whether a radioimmunoscintigraphic approach that is highly specific for delineation and visualization of acute myocardial necrosis in myocardial infarction [2–10] could also serve as a noninvasive method for the diagnosis of acute myocarditis, we studied a series of patients scheduled for ventricular biopsy who were suspected of having acute myocarditis.
The timSL Mutant of the Drosophila Rhythm Gene timeless Manifests Allele-Specific Interactions with period Gene Mutants

To identify new components of the Drosophila circadian clock, we screened chemically mutagenized flies for suppressors or enhancers of the long periods characteristic of the period (per) mutant allele perL. We isolated a novel mutant that maps to the rhythm gene timeless (tim). This novel allele, timSL, alters the temporal pattern of perL protein nuclear localization and restores temperature compensation to perL flies. timSL more generally manifests specific interactions with different per alleles. The identification of this first period-altering tim allele provides further evidence that TIM is a major component of the clock, and the allele-specific interactions with PER provide evidence that the PER/TIM heterodimer is a unit of circadian function. Although timSL fails to restore PER-L/TIM temperature insensitivity in yeast, it alters the TIM phosphorylation pattern during the late night. The effects on phosphorylation suggest that timSL functions as a partial bypass suppressor of perL and provide evidence that the TIM phosphorylation program contributes to the circadian timekeeping mechanism.
Combustion-driven compaction of nanostructured Sm-Co and Fe mixtures

Sm-Co and Fe mixture nanostructured magnets were prepared by compaction of powder precursors. We describe an inert atmosphere process using combustion-driven compaction which significantly reduces the problem of loss in coercivity during compaction. It is possible to retain some degree of crystallographic alignment with this compaction process.
Eating yourself sick: transmission of disease as a function of foraging ecology.

Species interactions may profoundly influence disease outbreaks. However, disease ecology has only begun to integrate interactions between hosts and their food resources (foraging ecology) despite that hosts often encounter their parasites while feeding. A zooplankton‐fungal system illustrated this central connection between foraging and transmission. Using experiments that varied food density for Daphnia hosts, density of fungal spores and body size of Daphnia, we produced mechanistic yet general models for disease transmission rate based on broadly applicable components of feeding biology. Best performing models could explain why prevalence of infection declined at high food density and rose sharply as host size increased (a pattern echoed in nature). In comparison, the classic mass-action model for transmission performed quite poorly. These foraging-based models should broadly apply to systems in which hosts encounter parasites while eating, and they will catalyse future integration of the roles of Daphnia as grazer and host.
Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Epidural Abscess With Bacteremia and Multiple Lung Abscesses: Case Report

A systemic infection due to community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus occurred in a hospital-naive 17-year-old girl with no history of soft-tissue infection. Although the initial signs and symptoms were indolent, systemic manifestations occurred, including extensive lung parenchymal damage and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The patient required long-term mechani- cal ventilation and was given linezolid for 8 weeks. Blood cultures eventually became negative for the staphylococci, and the patient was discharged to a rehabilitation facility. A probable source of the infection was the patient's self- cutting and self-piercing. (American Journal of Critical Care. 2009;18:88,86-87)
Molecular crowding reduces to a similar extent the diffusion of small solutes and macromolecules: measurement by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

Aqueous environments in living cells are crowded, with up to >50 wt% small and macromolecule-size solutes. We investigated quantitatively one important consequence of molecular crowding-reduced diffusion of biologically important solutes. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) was used to measure the diffusion of a series of fluorescent small solutes and macromolecules. In water, diffusion coefficients (D o w ) were (in cm 2 /s × 10 - 8 ): rhodamine green (270), albumin (52), dextrans (75, 10 kDa; 10, 500 kDa), double-stranded DNAs (96, 20 bp; 10, 1 kb; 3.4, 4.5 kb) and polystyrene nanospheres (5.4, 20 nm diameter; 2.3, 100 nm). Aqueous-phase diffusion (D w ) in solutions crowded with Ficoll-70 (0-60 wt%) was reduced by up to 650-fold in an exponential manner: D w =D o w exp(-[C]/[C] e x p ), where [C] e x p is the concentration (in wt%) of crowding agent reducing D o w by 63%. FCS data for all solutes and Ficoll-70 concentrations fitted well to a model of single-component, simple (non-anomalous) diffusion. Interestingly [C] e x p were nearly identical (11 ′ 2 wt%, SD) for diffusion of the very different types of macromolecules in Ficoll-70 solutions. However, [C] e x p was dependent on the nature of the crowding agent: for example, [C] e x p for diffusion of rhodamine green was 30 wt% for glycerol and 16 wt% for 500kDa dextran. Our results indicate that molecular crowding can greatly reduce aqueous-phase diffusion of biologically important macromolecules, and demonstrate a previously unrecognized insensitivity of crowding effects on the size and characteristics of the diffusing species.
Rapid fabrication of miniature lens arrays by four-axis single point diamond machining

A novel method for fabricating lens arrays and other non-rotationally symmetric free-form optics is presented. This is a diamond machining technique using 4 controlled axes of motion – X, Y, Z, and C. As in 3-axis diamond micro-milling, a diamond ball endmill is mounted to the work spindle of a 4-axis ultra-precision computer numerical control (CNC) machine. Unlike 3-axis micro-milling, the C-axis is used to hold the cutting edge of the tool in contact with the lens surface for the entire cut. This allows the feed rates to be doubled compared to the current state of the art of micro-milling while producing an optically smooth surface with very low surface form error and exceptionally low radius error.
LEARNING TO TEACH CONTENT BILINGUALLY IN A MIDDLE SCHOOL BILINGUAL CLASSROOM

Abstract The purpose of this year long study was to work with two Spanish-English bilingual middle school teachers who primarily used translation to ensure language comprehension and (1) re-orient them to an alternative perspective on learning and (2) teach them a new way of interacting with students bilingually during content teaching. The study addressed the following research questions: 1) How were teachers’ views about bilingual teaching and how students learn demonstrated in their instruction? Did these views change after participating in workshops, discussions, and practices? 2) What reasons did teachers give for switching from one language to the other during content instruction? Did the reasons change after participating in workshops, discussions and practice? 3) What kinds of bilingual teaching strategies did teachers rely on during instruction? Did these strategies change after participating in workshops, discussions and practice? The two teachers primarily viewed teaching bilingually as providi...
Stochastic analysis of interconnect performance in the presence of process variations

Deformations in interconnect due to process variations can lead to significant performance degradation in deep sub-micron circuits. Timing analyzers attempt to capture the effects of variation on delay with simplified models. The timing verification of RC or RLC networks requires the substitution of such simplified models with spatial stochastic processes that capture the random nature of process variations. The present work proposes a new and viable method to compute the stochastic response of interconnects. The technique models the stochastic response in an infinite dimensional Hilbert space in terms of orthogonal polynomial expansions. A finite representation is obtained by using the Galerkin approach of minimizing the Hilbert space norm of the residual error. The key advance of the proposed method is that it provides a functional representation of the response of the system in terms of the random variables that represent the process variations. The proposed algorithm has been implemented in a procedure called OPERA, results from OPERA simulations on commercial design test cases match well with those from the classical Monte Carlo SPICE simulations and from perturbation methods. Additionally OPERA shows good computational efficiency: speedup factor of 60 has been observed over Monte Carlo SPICE simulations.
“California’s Unemployed Feed Themselves”: Conservative Intervention in the Los Angeles Cooperative Movement, 1931–1934

This article considers the unemployed cooperative movement in Depression-era Los Angeles, an understudied component of unemployed organizing in the 1930s. Cooperativism allowed unemployed people to avoid material deprivation and build political power, but it also became a site of sharp political contestation. I examine how conservative elites intervened in a movement that was in many ways politically ambiguous. These conservatives saw both danger and possibility in the movement—danger because economic collectivism hinted at a socialist ethos, and possibility because it offered a way for poor people to provide for themselves without state support. To describe how these elites gained influence over the movement, I analyze the proceedings of a cooperative convention held in Los Angeles in 1933. I show how elites at the convention gave material support to cooperative leaders and rhetorically crafted a conservative version of cooperativism that emphasized anti-communism, self-sufficiency, and nativism.
Muonic–electronic quasi molecules based on a fully stripped multicharged ion

In our previous paper (Can. J. Phys. 91, 715 (2013) doi: 10.1139/cjp-2013-0077) we studied a system consisting of a proton, a muon, and an electron; the muon and the electron being in circular states. The study was motivated by numerous applications of muonic atoms and molecules, where one of the electrons is substituted by the heavier lepton μ–. We demonstrated that in such a μpe quasi molecule, the muonic motion can represent a rapid subsystem while the electronic motion can represent a slow subsystem — a result that may seem counterintuitive. In other words, the muon rapidly revolves in a circular orbit about the axis connecting the proton and electron while this axis slowly rotates following a relatively slow electronic motion. We showed that the spectral lines, emitted by the muon in the quasi molecule, μpe, experience a red shift compared to the corresponding spectral lines that would have been emitted by the muon in a muonic hydrogen atom. In the present paper we generalize this study by replacing ...
Computer And Internet Uses Among Elderly Population: Adding Activity And Quality To Life

Activity theory suggests that except for the inevitable changes in biology and health, older people are the same as middle-aged people with essentially the same psychological and social needs. In this view, decreased social interaction that characterizes old age results from the withdrawal of society from the aging person. Our study suggests that a large percentage of older citizens are computer literate, use Internet on a regular basis and b elieve that lack of basic computer skills is a disadvantage . Various activities ranging from email and chat on the Internet to surfing the net for useful information are common. We conclude that computer uses among older population adds value to their life.
Diabetes Pharmacotherapies and Bladder Cancer: A Medicare Epidemiologic Study

Objective Patients with type II diabetes have an increased risk of bladder cancer and are commonly treated with thiazolidinediones and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), which have been linked to cancer risk. We explored the relationship between use of one or both of these medication types and incident bladder cancer among diabetic patients (diabetics) enrolled in Medicare.
Language at rest: A longitudinal study of intrinsic functional connectivity in preterm children.

Background Preterm (PT) children show early cognitive and language deficits and display altered cortical connectivity for language compared to term (T) children. Developmentally, functional connectivity networks become more segregated and integrated, through the weakening of short-range and strengthening of long-range connections.
Current status of the direct CP violation experiment at Fermilab

Twenty four years have passed since the the violation of CP symmetry was first established by the observation of the decay K L → π + π - in 1964[1]; yet, all the CP violating effects that have been confirmed so far can be described by a single parameter e which characterizes the CP contamination in the K L state. If this contamination is the only source of the CP violation (superweak hypothesis[2]), then the size of the CP violation is expected to be the same for the π + π - and π 0 π 0 final states. On the other hand, if the decay amplitude K L →2π itself violates CP (“direct” CP violation), then in general the size of CP violation is expected to be different for the neutral and charged final states. The goal of this experiment is to measure the double ratio $$ {{\Gamma ({K_L} \to {\pi ^ + }{\pi ^ - })/\Gamma ({K_S} \to {\pi ^ + }{\pi ^ - })} \over {\Gamma ({K_L} \to {\pi ^0}{\pi ^0})/\Gamma ({K_S} \to {\pi ^0}{\pi ^0})}} \simeq 1 + 6| \in '/ \in | $$ with an error of 0.005. The Standard model prediction for |∊′/∊| ranges from 0.001 to 0.007[3], while the superweak hypothesis leads to |∊′/∊| = 0.
The Effect of Holding Office on the Behavior of Politicians

The effect that holding office has on the behavior of politicians is a crucial concern in the design of democratic institutions. Unfortunately, the treatment effects of holding elective office are difficult to estimate; they are likely confounded by selection bias arising from citizens self-selecting into politics and voters selecting their representatives. This article reports on a behavioral experiment designed to address this selection bias. We recruited politicians in Zambia who had won or lost elections for District Council by narrow margins. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we show that politicians in our sample who have held office behave differently from those who have not. Specifically, in a specially designed set of Trust and Dictator Games, office-holding politicians seem to display higher levels of reciprocity than do politicians who have not held office. We argue that we can identify this difference as a behavioral effect of the treatment of holding office.
Selective Degenerative Benzyl Group Transfer in Olefin Polymerization

The kinetics of 1-hexene polymerization was investigated using a previously studied zirconium amine bis-phenolate catalyst, Zr[tBu-ONTHFO]Bn2, where the effect of substoichiometric amounts of activator on the polymerization was studied to more clearly elucidate the mechanism of degenerative benzyl-group transfer. Comprehensive kinetic analysis was performed for a diverse set of data including monomer consumption, evolution of molecular weight, and end-group counts over a range of activator to precatalyst ratios, where the analysis determined the rates of association and dissociation of a binuclear complex (BNC) intermediate through which degenerative transfer proceeds. Kinetic modeling indicates that the benzyl-group transfer inside the BNC is rapid, as supported by 1H NMR. Rapid association and dissociation of the BNC enable complete activation of all precatalysts even under the condition of substoichiometric amounts of activator through a degenerative benzyl-group transfer. Through the use of a novel ex...